Announcement of Dominican Republic Borrows Five Million Dollars for a Road Project on July 16, 1976

•World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. • Telephone: (202) 393-6360 BANK NEWS RELEASE NO. 77/9 JULY !6, 1976 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BORROWS $5 MILLION FOR A ROAD PROJECT A World Bank loan of $5 million will help finance a road maintenance project in Dominican Republic. The Bank loan is on 11 Third Window 11 terms. It is for 25 years, including 7 years of grace. It will carry interest at 4.85% per annum. An additional 4% wi 11 be paid to the Bank by an Interest Subsidy Fund, representing the difference between the Bank's current interest rate of 8.85% and the charge to Dominican Republic. The Bank loan is the first in support of transport devel- • opment in the Dominican Republic. The majority of Dominican Repub- lic's highways suffer from lack of maintenance. The project is de- signed to bring about an improvement in highway maintenance and planning. The project will provide for: a) the reconstruction of 19 kilometers (km) of a high priority road; b) the necessary rehabilitation, widening or reconstr~ction of the bridges on the road; c) a highway maintenance program, and technical assistance for the maintenance program. A study financed by the United Nations Development Pro- gramme (UNO) provides the basis for the project. The project is scheduled to be completed in three years time at l total estimated cost of $8.2 million. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents . • FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T E C HN I CA L DAT A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Road Maintenance and Reconstruction Dominican Republic $8. 2 mi 11 ion • BANK FINANCING: $5 million, "Third Window" loan, for 25 years, including 7 years of grace, with interest at 4.85% per annum. OTHER Fl NANCI NG: Government of the Dominican Republic IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Secretaria de Estado de Obras Publicas y Comunicaciones, Avenida San Cristobal, Ensanche La Fe, Sante Domingo, D.N., Dominican Republic. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: It consists of: reconstruction of the 18-km Puente Camu-San Francisco de Macoris Road; rehabilitation, widening or recon- struction of bridges on the road; a road maintenance program including: purchase of equip- ment and spare parts; and the provision of consulting services and technical assistance . • PROCU.REMENT: Contracts for civi 1 works financed under the loan wi 11 be awarded after international competitive bidding in accordance with Bank guidelines. Bidders will be required to prequalify. Maintenance equipment, equip- ment spares, and workshop tools and equipment wi 11 be procured after international competi- tive bidding in accordance with Bank guidelines, except that contracts for spare parts may be awarded through direct negotiations with local spare part dealers under procedures acceptable to the Bank, provided that the value of the spare parts so procured does not exceed $200,000 and that the purchase of individual packages of spares valued at more than $10,000 wi 11 be subject to Bank approval. CONSULTANTS: Consultants will be engaged to carry out technical assistance in implementing the maintenance program and in supervising construction. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN: EST IMATED COMP LET I ON DATE: 24% 1980 • - 0 -