The Caribbean Development Bank and the government of Guyana have launched a $30.9 million “sea and river defence project” that is designed to improve the country’s irrigation and drainage infrastructure.

After receiving financial approval for the project in December 2013 and signing the CDB loan in April 2014, Guyana leaders held a launch event last Thursday to explain the development.

The funds will finance the reconstruction and improvement of about 5.4 kilometres of sea and river defences in eight “critical areas,” according to a CDB press release.

That will benefit more than 45,000 Guyanese residents who live in some 9,000 households in those areas, the press release states.

CDB Portfolio Manager William Ashby explained that the areas chosen were those most vulnerable to climate change.

“The government of Guyana has identified the protection of people and productive land through climate change adaptation measures as a priority,” he said, “and the coastal protection strategy has long included efforts to manage the natural sea defences as well as extending, upgrading and maintaining the system of sea and river defence infrastructure.”

The CDB is providing Guyana with a $25 million loan to undertake the construction, with the country’s government providing the rest of the funds, according to the CDB.

The project will be implemented by the Work Services Group, with a project coordinator having day-to-day responsibility for its management, the release states.

David Patterson, Guyana’s minister of public infrastructure, said the project is especially important in a country where more than 90 percent of the population lives in a coastal area.

Along with the drainage and irrigation infrastructure, the project will include a “capacity building” component that will see the establishment of a system to monitor shoreline change; a geographic information system managed by the WSG; and a community awareness programme to educate people about disaster risk and steps that can be taken to protect the coast, according to the CDB.

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