KINGSTON - The Ambassador of the European Union to Guyana, Jernej Videtič, paid a courtesy visit on Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson and Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson, on October 7, 2015 at their Wight’s Lane office.
Ambassador Videtič used the opportunity to reaffirm the EU's commitment to working with Guyana in its development process. Guyana-EU cooperation commenced over 40 years ago with priorities including sea defences and transport infrastructure, inter alia, the Bartica/Berbice ferry services; the Demerara bridge rehabilitation; and the Ogle Airport extension.
During the meeting the two parties discussed on-going projects. These included the "Power Utility Upgrade Programme" which is co‑financed by an EU grant of €19.3 million and a loan by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) of USD $37.6 million.
The project, which is being administered via Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc., is geared at enhancing the operational efficiency and corporate performance of the utility company. It will cater to the upgrading of infrastructure to reduce energy and revenue loss while also improving GPL's management and administrative efficiency.
It was agreed by the two parties that close monitoring of project implementation is necessary to make best use of available resources.
Ambassador Videtic and the Ministers also discussed ongoing cooperation programmes on sea defences, including capacity-building and training, strengthening the functionalities of the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC), opportunities for studies in renewable energy, and the exploration of possible future EU‑Guyana collaboration in the area of renewable energy, transport infrastructure, tourism and logistics.
