Demerara Bank Limited (DBL) on January 20, 2023, signed a Loan Agreement with the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to finance the purchase of fifty prefabricated timber houses from a supplier in Guyana.
DBL said in a release that the agreement was signed in Saint Vincent & the Grenadines by General Manager of the Bank, Dowlat Parbhu and Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves. This collaboration, the release said, will see the creation of an important model that will foster an environment for increased regional trade between Guyana and the Caribbean.
The prefabricated houses, constructed by Duravilla Homes, a local company in Guyana, comprise of one, two and three-bedrooms models, and are engineered to withstand up to category 4 hurricanes. The houses are expected to be delivered in March, 2023 and will aid efforts by the Vincentian government to rebuild and repair communities that were devastated by the eruption of the La Soufrière volcano in 2021.
The PM said at the signing that almost 20% of the population was displaced by the eruption and that the government is purchasing these homes to replace, free of cost, those that were damaged during the eruption. He further stated that to his knowledge, this is the first time that the government will be accessing financing from a local indigenous bank in Guyana and thanked the Board and Management of Demerara Bank for their support.
Parbhu said that the Bank is deeply honoured to partner with the government of St Vincent and that the facility, which was granted over seven-years, is one of many opportunities that the Bank will explore to foster and enhance trade and investment within the region.
