Latest update March 24th, 2025 7:05 AM
Govt. seeking another US$100M from IDB for roads
Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana has approached the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for a US$100M loan to upgrade the East Bank Demerara (EBD) road – between Grove and Timehri.
Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill and other representatives from the Ministry meet with a delegation from the IDB
In a notice published in the Kaieteur News on Wednesday, the Ministry of Public Works said it was seeking Consultants for the project, which would serve as the Engineer for the design and build works.
According to the document, the loan is being requested through the IDB’s Program to Support Climate Resilient Infrastructure Development.
Under this venture, the government said it will be looking to improve road safety and ride-ability, improve utility networks where necessary, improve pedestrian infrastructure, address climate adaptation and mitigation measures while reducing congestion and delays faced by commuters traversing along the corridor.
As such, the technical engineering design proposed for Grove to Timehri by the Contractor must provide a solution to the deterioration of the current road pavement and to areas where a road pavement is non-existent; road safety and traffic congestion issues throughout the roadway; the lack of safe non-motorised traffic facilities for vulnerable road users and the need for the rehabilitation of or new bridges across the various drainage and irrigation channels along the alignment.
The Consultant, according to the Ministry, shall bear the responsibility of the Engineer for the project under the IDBs regulations for Design and Build Works. The estimated implementation period of the Consultancy is for 42 months or three and a half years.
The Ministry of Public Works was keen to note that consultancy firms will be assessed based on experience in undertaking similar projects; local and or regional experience; current commitment of works under execution and current progress; use of technology to solve project related issues in past projects and references such as signed completion certificates over the past three years.
It must be noted that the IDB is yet to approve the loan to Guyana for this project.
On Monday, the Public Works Ministry in a public missive said it met with a team from the IDB to discuss the upgrades to the roadway. Representatives from the Ministry during that meeting included subject Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill and Permanent Secretary, Vladim Persaud.
This year, the Ministry of Public Works was allocated the highest sum of revenue to the tune of $76.1B. The 2022 Budget was capped at $552.9 billion, the largest ever presented in the National Assembly.
The Minister with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh during the presentation of Budget 2022 was keen to note that the country’s loan portfolio is expected to double this year. According to the “Estimates”, Guyana’s loans and grant stock portfolio is expected to be some $37B this year, up from $17B last year.
The loan aspect of this portfolio, however, is expected to double moving from $13.6B last year to $26.8B this year. The information is documented in the Estimates’ table, documenting specific sources of financing of Capital Expenditure for loans and grants from countries and other International Financial Institutions such as the World Bank and the IDB.
According to the information presented, Guyana’s highest loan stock stands and will remain; the IDB projected this year to be some $11.2B, up from $9.6B last year. India is listed as the source of the next highest source of financing expected to be some $4.2B this year, up from a mere $400M last year. Loans from China are also expected to skyrocket this year moving from 779.6M last year to $1.2B this year.
Grants from institutions such as the European Union (EU), Japan, the World Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and China is expected to account for some $10.2B of the $37B that will account for financing in the 2022 Budget with funds coming from external sources through loans and grants.
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