The government’s plan to borrow $100 million to rebuild critical public infrastructure is a big step in the public sector’s long-delayed recovery from the 2017 hurricanes.
However, given the scale of need across the territory, it’s not nearly enough.
In 2018, officials estimated it would take around $700 million to fund the recovery. That number was probably a reasonable projection of the cost to truly build back stronger, though inflation and under-investment have doubtlessly driven it higher.
But in the seven years since the storms, successive governments have failed to access anywhere near enough money. Indeed, the main source of recovery funding so far has been a $65 million loan obtained in 2018 from the Caribbean Development Bank.
The same year, the HOA rightly voted to accept an approximately $400 million loan guarantee from the United Kingdom to fund projects to be administered by the independent Recovery and Development Agency, which was established as part of the deal.
But successive governments then refused to access the guarantee — arguing unconvincingly that too many strings were attached — and the UK unfortunately took it off the table.
As a result, the public-sector recovery to date has been limited mostly to smaller projects. The RDA’s largest by far was the approximately $12 million Elmore Stoutt High School rebuild.
The new $100 million loan — the largest in the territory’s history — carries a much higher interest rate than the ones previously available under the UK guarantee, but it will nevertheless provide a much-needed boost.
It’s crucial, however, that leaders spend the money wisely.
Thankfully, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley made several sensible statements during his Monday press conference in describing his government’s approach to using the funds.
The priorities he outlined, for instance, are important needs. They include carrying out extensive roadwork, completing long-stalled water-and-sewerage projects, finally repairing the Ralph T. O’Neal Administration Complex, supporting home buyers, and building a migrant-detention facility and a homeless shelter, among others.
Dr. Wheatley also noted that the loan was tendered to solicit proposals from multiple lenders and that the planned projects have been incorporated into the territory’s medium-term fiscal plan.
To help repay the loan, he added, his administration plans various revenue-raising measures such as updating decades-old fees and cracking down on delinquent taxpayers.
These common-sense proposals all seem reasonable.
Moving forward, good governance and value for money must underpin the full life cycle of all the projects funded by the loan.
That approach should include transparent planning, tendering, construction and ultimately maintenance — aspects of public project management that are too often lacking in the territory.
To that end, the projects should be administered by the RDA, which Dr. Wheatley confirmed Monday will eventually be transitioned into a permanent development agency.
With a track record of dozens of projects on constrained budgets, the RDA has earned a reputation as a transparent and efficient project manager. We hope its successor agency continues on this track and that the government entrusts it to oversee all the projects covered by the new loan.
After all, much work remains to be done on the government’s hurricane recovery, and residents deserve safe infrastructure that is completed quickly and correctly while maximising value for money.