Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has met with officials of the Kuwaiti fund and the OPEC fund for International Development to rectify issues related to delays on Phase 1 and II of the National Agriculture and Feeder Roads Project.
The meeting included Hon. Sheikh Abdullah Alsabah of Kuwait Dynamic Ltd (KDL) and Acting Director General of the Kuwait Fund Waleed Al-bahar.
Speaking after the meeting in Cabinet Room, Dr. Gonsalves said the project started since 2019 and the roads should have already been completed but there have been many delays and attendant issues concerning the completion of these works.
The Prime Minister said he had written the Kuwaiti fund so there could be some urgency for completion of the project and this second meeting is the result.
“I had written a letter to the Kuwaiti Fund as I had reported to Parliament, making the representation for some urgency to be addressed to this matter with the contractors and of course the subcontractors. And as a consequence of that letter, there was an engagement between our dear brother, the acting director general of the Kuwaiti Fund in the meeting in April-May in Washington, World Bank IMF, Camilo and their brother, the acting director general of the Kuwaiti Fund, who also is on the board of the OPEC Fund for International Development. They met and as a consequence of that meeting, this broad meeting was organized.” The Prime Minister said.
A Memorandum of Understanding was drawn up which includes the establishment of a committee comprising the Government, the Kuwaiti fund, OPEC Fund, the Supervising Engineer, a consultant and the contractor which will provide assistance and monitor work of the main contractor. An agreement for settlement of all financial claims from the sub-contractors by the contractor KDL was also done.
Hon. Sheikh Abdullah Alsabah of Kuwait Dynamic Ltd. (KDL) said he was pleased with the meeting and the opportunity to follow up on matters concerning the project because the contractor KDL, had not been fulfilling its obligations. Sheikh Abdullah also thanked Dr. Gonsalves and the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines for their patience.
