The European Union has signed a financing agreement of EC$18.35 million (5.98 million euros) with the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the Road Management and Rural Road Improvement Programme.
This Programme will be implemented by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) under an agreement with the European Union.
The overall objective of the intervention is to enhance the quality of and to improve climate change resilience of the road network in SVG, in particular, rural roads.
Under the initiative, approximately 10 kilometres of road will be repaired and upgraded, and a national road maintenance database established. The database will be instrumental in the efficient and proper maintenance of roads in the country in general and also at times of damage from hurricanes and flooding.
Such efficient maintenance is expected to contribute to the stimulation of economic activities in rural communities and reduced vulnerability to climate change.
To reduce the adverse effects of natural disasters in infrastructure and, therefore, in rural roads contributing to their sustainability, the road maintenance programme will incorporate disaster risk reduction measures, such as preventative maintenance, appropriate zoning, hazard mapping, as well as flood and landslide mitigation.
The EU welcomed the CDB’s determination to implement the project, especially with their experienced gained from disaster risk reduction focused on road rehabilitation in the region.
This first experience in road maintenance, using High Intensity Labour methods (HILO) and green techniques, will be the pilot for eventual new interventions in other countries on which agriculture is one of the economy’s pillars.
“The European Union Delegation will continue to support Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’ efforts to create a resilient road network that will ensure sustained and inclusive economic growth of the agricultural sector in the long term,” the EU said in a press release.
The EU has provided development aid to SVG since the 8th European Development Fund (EDF).
The overall programme budget for the current 11th EDF intervention is approximately EC$41.42 million (13.5 million euros) until 2020, with EC$18.40 million (6 million euros) earmarked as B-envelop.
SVG also benefits from EU assistance channelled through thematic interventions. Among others, the most important is the Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM), with an EC$30.46 million allocation (9.93 million euros), to be implemented in five years (finishing in 2023).
18 Million. With what it costs to do roads here that will pave 15 miles of road, maximum!, And with the quality of materials we use here , we will have to start dodging potholes on that road within 2 years. Until the amount is over 180 million, it is nothing to get excited about.
They should spend the 50 million on the roads, sidewalks, and drainage in the capital Kingstown.
Wasn’t there a 90 million road repair and development plan. The source of the funds was already identified and named.