ST JOHN’S, Antigua, Dec 12 2016 – Antigua and Barbuda is the first country to access major funding from the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIF). The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved a grant of 13.9 million pounds to assist the country with the rehabilitation of two major roads, the Sir George Walter Highway and Friars Hill Road.
Approximately 75 percent of people living in Antigua use the Sir George Walter Highway and Friars Hill Road on a daily basis. The roads connect the capital of St. John’s, prime tourism areas, heavily populated areas and the V.C. Bird International Airport. The project will upgrade the roads to improve safety and capacity, and renovate their drainage infrastructure.
“We’ve chosen two very important roads which will lead into the airport and improve transportation within the country. The benefits to be derived therefrom are endless…We are using this project as a stepping stone to develop the entire country’s network as far as roads are concerned and, with this grant, with this assistance from the CDB, we shall be on our way to a complete road programme in the country of Antigua and Barbuda,” said Steadroy Benjamin, Acting Prime Minister and Attorney General of Antigua and Barbuda.
In July 2016, CDB funded a technical assistance study, “Road Infrastructure Rehabilitation – Antigua and Barbuda”, which informed the development of preliminary engineering designs, cost estimates, and specifications for this project, along with six other key sections of the road network. The recommended improvements were based on current and projected road usage.
The Project is expected to be completed over a period of 24 months, beginning in the first quarter of 2017.
