By Alva Solomon in Barbados
THE Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) stands ready to assist Guyana in its infrastructural development and linkages between the coastland and the hinterland. It has also pointed to its readiness to assist in the development of the country’s energy sector.This is according to CDB President Dr. William Smith who told the Guyana Chronicle at the bank’s headquarters in St Michael, Barbados yesterday that the bank had met with the new government soon after its assumption to office last May and had committed its willingness to work with the David Granger administration.
On the subject of infrastructural development, Dr Smith said, “Guyana has great needs; it is a very large country.” Noting that the bank fully understands the government’s interest in linking the coast to the hinterland, Dr Smith said, “I think that it is a good strategy, but a lot of infrastructural work would be required in order to achieve that objective.”
In that regard, Dr Smith placed on notice the bank’s commitment to assist the government.
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Last year, Guyana’s oil sector received a significant boost when American company Exxon Mobil announced that the company’s Liza-1 well encountered more than 295 feet of high-quality oil-bearing sandstone reservoirs in the Stabroek Block, located approximately 120 miles offshore Guyana.
Asked whether the bank had any interest in this development, Dr. Smith noted that the CDB would not have a direct interest in the oil sector, as that was more suited to the private sector. However, the bank could assist with technical resources.
“Where the CDB could be of assistance to Guyana is, again, in the area of technical assistance,” he said. He explained that if the resources were required to facilitate the development of policy or any relative area that could “lead to a better outcome to the development of this new industry, the bank would be willing to provide such support if required.”
He pointed to the renewable energy sector, noting that the country had the potential to develop the sector which would be beneficial to the citizenry. “Guyana has vast potential in that area,” he said, adding that this understanding was developed from the discussions the bank held with the new government.
OTHER INTERESTS
Dr. Smith indicated that there was opportunity for the development of small hydro-power projects around the country, and that was one of the areas the bank had expressed its interest in during its meeting with the government.
He stated that the bank also expressed its interest in area of the solar and wind-energy projects, the latter is being actively pursued by the administration. “We feel that those types of technology can help to improve the quality of life of people who live outside of the reach of the electricity grid,” Dr. Smith noted.
He said that the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF), the agency’s project body in Georgetown, was the vehicle which would carry out the bank’s foreseeable agenda in Guyana. “It is what we want to use more and more, to be able to create innovative ways of improving the quality of life of the people”, he said of the BNTF.

Guyana is a founding member of the CDB, and Dr. Smith noted that the country had received much assistance from it over the years to carry out its projects in the area of social and infrastructural development. “Guyana is very important to us,” he reiterated.
The government has been pursuing its plans to development the energy sector and the creation of wind-farm projects is high on its agenda. As regards infrastructural development, the regime has pointed to its plans to link the coastland with the hinterland area via road and this was mentioned last weekend when Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo addressed residents of Lethem in Region Nine, during a government outreach.
For years, the Linden/Lethem trail, which links the coast to the Rupununi, has been problematic, with weather playing a factor in the road’s public usage.
The Prime Minister said that the government planned to ensure that there was accelerated development of the region, and he noted that this year there were plans to push the roadway, transforming it into an all-weather road, which would bring economic benefits to the region, the Prime Minister noted.