US$63.5M IDB loan converted to housing project

– subject to checks and balances; Govt required to do evaluations

A US$66 million Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) loan, arranged for road works by the former People’s Progressive Party Administration in 2012, has been reformulated for a housing project. It, however, comes with certain strings attached.
The loan was originally slated to be used to finance the Road Network Upgrade and Expansion Programme. Last year, however, Finance Minister Winston Jordan reportedly requested that the money be reallocated to the Government’s Adequate Housing and Urban Accessibility Programme.
The IDB has approved the request for its portion of the monies, US$63.5 million, to be transferred to the project. Guyana, who was supposed to be fronting US$3 million in counterpart financing, will be required to hire independent consultants who would conduct studies on the new project. This will include a mid-term and final evaluation.
“The mid-term evaluation will be carried out at the end of the thirty months — from the date of this amendment to the loan contract; or when fifty per cent of the resources of the financing has been disbursed, (whichever) occurs first,” the report states.
It goes on to add that the evaluation will include “the results produced by the project execution with regards to attaining the project’s objectives stated in the results framework, the progress of implementation activities and procurement procedures, and results for goods, services, consultancies and civil works.”
The project will have a number of safeguards, including semi-annual progress reports and environmental and social compliance reports.

Components
The housing programme will be aimed at urban and peri-urban areas around Georgetown. The specific objectives include improving housing conditions and access to basic infrastructure. In addition, it will look at providing home improvement subsidies under US$2,500 each.
Further, owners of core homes will be provided with support aimed at helping vulnerable households. Funding and training opportunities would also be provided for Local Democratic Organs.
Component two of the project retains a vestige of the original programme; that is, funding for the expansion and rehabilitation of the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue Road and the implementation of the Road Safety Action Plan.
But last year, Government had announced that the multi-million- dollar Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue Expansion Project had been scrapped, and the funds would be otherwise utilized for other infrastructural works.
Finance Minister Winston Jordan had said that the loan has being sitting since 2012, and Government was responsible for paying interest and commission fees on the undisbursed balance.
He had said that of the amounts that remained, Government was no longer interested in widening any road. Instead, he had said, the interest was in doing works on the bridges along Sheriff Street.
These include the bridges located next to the National Cultural Centre; Campbellville Secondary School; and one at the Lamaha Canal.