World Bank Okays $7.7 Million to Improve St. Lucia´s Water Service

The World Bank (WB) approved last week a $7.7 million loan for St. Lucia to improve water service on the small Caribbean nation.

The St. Lucia Water Supply Infrastructure Improvement Project will support an urgent investment program to carry out critical works to alleviate the water shortage in the north of the country, the most densely populated and developed region of the island.

The infrastructure works proposed will allow the utility to supply the entire north of the island with a more efficient, continuous and reliable service;

In the same breath, the loan will be used to bankroll the implementation of an urgent investments that will result in additional revenues, reduce the likelihood of commercial users abandoning the system and improve the potential of a successful partnership between the government and the private sector.

WB views improving access to water supply as essential for sustainable poverty reduction and critical for reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015.

The $7.7 million operation includes a $3.85 million credit from the International Development Association, the part of the World Bank that provides interest-free loans, plus a $3.85 million, fixed-spread loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.