Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves is leading a 10-member delegation to Saudi Arabia with Kingston signing a number of agreements relating to school, health, housing and other governmental infrastructure.
Gonsalves, who will join Caribbean Community (CARICOM) colleagues at the first-ever Saudi Arabia-CARICOM summit, scheduled for Thursday, said that the event will focus on fostering investment and trade, particularly in critical sectors such as infrastructure, hospitality, energy, climate change, and environmental sustainability.
“As you know, several of us have been building these relations and you know we have signed already a US$16 million agreement…20 years, two per cent fixed rate of interest, which is quite low to do some health facilities,” Gonsalves said.
Gonsalves said the centrepiece of the US$16 million agreement would be a modern health centre in South Rivers.
“We have paid for the land where we want to do it, the design process has commenced for that,” he said, adding that hopefully construction can begin somewhere by the middle of next year.
“Because the design has to be done, it has to go out to tender, international tender and the like to get the contractor.”
Gonsalves said that funds would also be used to repair of other health clinics across the island as well as educational, cultural, artistic and production hubs in three locations.
“That’s consisting of the US$16 million. But that was just the first,” Gonsalves said, adding ”we have sent in other projects and I’m going to sign in relation to those projects”.
Gonsalves told reporters that he also intends to travel to Qatar “for a day or two since I’m in the neighbourhood.
“Because I have made an application from the Qatari Fund for certain resources, including very importantly to build a science, technology and innovation lab as part of enhancement of the work of the Community College and the global campus of the University of the West Indies. I have the land earmarked already, going up the Frenches area, just behind the University of the West Indies,” Gonsalves said.
“Again, we have been building relations with Qatar over a period of time. We have gotten some links to do some work. I am trying to organise that to see if I can get some work done so that I don’t have to go another time,” he added.