Announcement of FIve Million Four Hundred Thousand US Dollars Loan for Guyana's Sea Defense on June 21, 1971

INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR .,>RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOP~vlENT' 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON 0. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Bank Press Release No. 71/51 Subject: $5.4 million loan for Guyana's June 21, 1971 sea defense The World Bank has approved a $5.4 million loan to the Government of Guyana to help £inane~ ct ::sc:1,;uuJ. :zi,e:c:1. ut:fc:u::st: project tu protect Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, from possible tidal inundation. Georgetown's waterfront., like the rest of Guyana's coast, is below high tide level and is subject to cyclic erosion of the foreshore, recurring roughly every thirty years. A 1962 UNDP (Special Fund)-financed hydrographic survey, for which the Bank was the Executing Agency, concluded that the next cycle of erosion of • Georgetown's foreshore would start some time after 1973 and last until about 1985:a Without further protection, foreshore erosion would undermine the foun- dations of the existing sea defenses which might the11 collapse under their own weight. In 1968, the Bank assisted Guyana in financing the works for a first sea defense project, as well as economic and engineering feasibility studies for a second sea defense project. Both the ongoing ,and the new project are part of the fir~t phase of a Twelve-Year Sea Defense Program to protect Guyana's pro- ductive coa~tal plains. The project consists of rehabilitation of 6,830 feet of existing sea defenses, constr.·uction of 1,570 feet of new sea defenses, a diversion road, eight drainage QUtfall~<'i procurement of two tugs and nine pontoons, ~onstruction of a slipway, • purchase of steel sheet piles and equipment, and consultants' services . /more Bank P.R. No. 7li51 ·- Guyana - sea defense defenses during the coming erosion cycle. - 2 - Without the project, several breaches would occur in the existing sea The principal direct benefit will be • protection against damage to sea defen.ses and loss of urban property. The project will also remove the threat of permanent inundation of certain coastal land in the vicinity of Georgetown and prevent prolonged and serious disruption of the economic and business life of the capital. The Ministry of Works, Hydraulics and Supply (Georgetown, Guyana) will be responsible for the execution of the project, which is expected to be implemented over an approximately two--year period. The total cost of the project is estimated at $6.8 million equivalent, the Bank's loan of $5.4 million will finance the foreign exchange component, includ- • ing interest during construction under the Bank loan of approximately $0. IJ millL·'ti . The balance will be financed by the Government of Guyana. The Bank loan will be for a term of 25 years, including a five-year grace period~ at an interest rate of 7-1/4% per annum. 0 • . \\