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News from the Caribbean as of
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Antigua-Barbuda receives US$7.5m from Venezuela for airport upgrade
Saturday, November 4, 2006
ST JOHN’S, Antigua: The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has announced the receipt of US$7.5m (EC$20.1m) from the Government of Venezuela for upgrade of works at the VC Bird International Airport. The funds have been provided as a part of the ALBA Caribe initiative launched by the Government of Venezuela to assist Caribbean countries in spearheading infrastructural and other development programmes.
The receipt of the funds follows a visit to Caracas by a high level ministerial team led by Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer in July of this year and including Minister of Tourism, Harold Lovell, and Minister of Social Transformation, Hilson Baptiste.
The funds from Venezuela are targeted for urgent upgrade works at the VC Bird International Airport in preparation for Cricket World Cup in March 2007 and are expected to be used for expansion of arrival and departure facilities at the airport, as well as for upgrade of air conditioning and electrical facilities and other structural improvements.
Remarking on the timely receipt of the funds, Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Harold Lovell, expressed his appreciation to the government and people of Venezuela for their meaningful assistance to Antigua and Barbuda in this important project. He noted that a number of officials in Venezuela, as well as the Venezuelan Ambassador to Antigua and Barbuda, Jose Silva Mendes, had been particularly instrumental in making the assistance possible within the required time frame.
Chief Executive Officer of the Antigua and Barbuda Millennium Airport Corporation (ABMAC), Ken Hurst, noted that the receipt of the funds last week would allow the corporation, in conjunction with officials of the VC Bird International airport, to begin implementation of aspects of the airport redevelopment and expansion project outlined in the airport Master Plan endorsed by the government of Antigua and Barbuda earlier this year.
He indicated that work was expected to begin within the next couple of weeks to ensure that adequate facilities were in place to enable Antigua and Barbuda to cope with the increased demands on airport services as a result of Cricket World Cup 2007.
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