The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) yesterday announced the approval of a $53 million grant to support Haiti’s plan to upgrade the National Road #1 (RN1), and to strengthen the Ministry of Public Works and the National Ports Authority.

The bulk of the IDB resources will be invested in rehabilitating a 26.2 km (16.4 miles) between the city of Gonaïves and the town of Ennery, a key stretch of RN1, which connects the capital, Port-au-Prince, with Cap Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city.

The grant will also finance activities to modernize the National Ports Authority and to build up the Ministry of Public Works’ institutional capacity in areas such as road maintenance, road safety and transportation planning.

As Haiti’s leading multilateral donor, the IDB has long supported investments in the country’s primary road network. Among other projects, it is currently financing upgrades on highways linking the main cities in the southern peninsula and the capital city with the Dominican border.

Since 2010 the IDB has approved $649 million in new grants and disbursed more than $467 million to the Haitian government for projects in agriculture, education, energy, private sector development, transportation and water and sanitation.

HL/ HaitiLibre