ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – The Grenada government says the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has agreed to repurpose a portion of the education enhancement loan to Grenada because of the damages caused to schools following the destruction caused by the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 1.
Education Minister David Andrews said the region’s premier financial institution, which funded the expansion and rehabilitation of six schools through the Grenada Education Enhancement Project (GEEP), has agreed to repurpose the funds.
The worst-hit areas are in the north of the island, and while some of the schools will have to be rebuilt, others will undergo repairs, with the hope that they will be ready for use by late September or early October.
“In the case of Bishop College (in Carriacou), which was built in the last couple of years with a CDB loan, there are still funds within that project to facilitate the repairs, and so we did engage with CDB, and they are prepared to have funds disbursed under that project for the repairs to Bishop College,” Andrews told a news conference.
“They are prepared to make emergency representations, forego the normal procurement channels, and have direct selection because of the urgency of this particular situation.
“The same is true for MacDonald College. The BNTF there was reassigned for the provision of devices and the upgrade of the IT infrastructure in schools, and I think that was reassigned in the first instance to assist with the repairs at MacDonald College, so we discussed that with CDB as well, and that has been agreed to,” he said.
“The BNTF (Basic Needs Trust Fund) has been reassigned there, first to deal with the repairs there and then to start with MacDonald College, which was one of the schools listed for IT infrastructure repairs there. Then we will go out as far as we can to support other schools. That’s the extent to which there has been repurposing of funds,” Andrews told reporters.
Grenada was among the countries affected when Beryl, the first category-five storm of this Atlantic Hurricane season, passed through the Caribbean in July. The storm left a trail of death and destruction in Jamaica, Grenada, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
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