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Publish Date : 18-May-2016

The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Keith Rowley on Saturday night has made an announcement on his receipt of funding commitment from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to build the Valencia - Toco highway.

PM Rowley has revealed that he has held meeting with the IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno in Washington DC, and secured assurances from the bank boss to help the country to complete several specific projects in and out of the country.

He stated, Among those is the highway from Valencia to Toco, which the Bank is aware of, and so keen is the Bank to assist us in getting this project done that the Bank has undertaken to provide us with immediate funding to deal with the activities taking place now, in preparation for that project coming on stream as an application for major funding. Its not just the road, its the port facilities which will make that road into what it has to become, which is the contact between Trinidad and Tobago.

The Prime Minister has made these observations at a media briefing held at the VIP Lounge at Piarco International Airport, upon his homecoming from the US, UK and Ghana trips.

He has emphasized that the Government will be fully equipped with the IDB funds while breaking ground on the Valencia - Toco highway project and development of the Tobago port and ferry service launch in Toco, which will be complete dissimilar to the controversy-ridden extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway to Point Fortin venture.

He has further said that the Solomon Hochoy Highway - Point Fortin project was initiated devoid of adequate funding provisions, which led to numerous problems.

Rowley revealed, So after these discussions that have taken place and the responses from the IDB, that matter will now fall to the Ministry of Planning and Development to execute the necessary applications and progress on that project.

He has stressed that working out the estimated cost for the whole project will be carried out after consultants accomplish a route alignment on the highway.

Rowley revealed, I wouldnt want to speculate on those numbers now because its not numbers set by us, but it would be a significant sum of money and until we do the route alignment and get proper estimates I wouldnt want to put anything out.

But the terms and conditions (of the IDB loan) will be standard IDB conditions which are concessionary loans with a period of moratorium and, most importantly, the procurement process has to be open and transparent so that you get the benefit of competition. That is what we committed to and that is where were at.

The Premier has disclosed that the IDB, during the meeting, has expressed its willingness to provide crucial funds to support all possible projects that might be planned by local firms if they get any natural gas avenues in Ghana.

Rowley added, I think that was a very fundamental agreement because it is a first-time kind of arrangement where the IDB is encouraging this kind of contact between developing countries and we believe this could be a model for other developing countries.

The PM has stressed that the 12-day long overseas trip is intended for facilitating access to Trinidad and Tobago since the nation is required to move beyond its territory.

He added, We are at a stage in our development and in our history that if we are to find growth and expansion significant and commensurate with where were at now, to maintain our standards of living and to have the infrastructure going forward, we need to look beyond our borders for those opportunities and thats what this trip was all about.

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