The Vice-president of the Council of Ministers of Cuba, Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz and His Excellency Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, Director General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) signed a Loan Agreement, through which a soft loan of US $ 25 million will be granted to contribute to the financing of Las Tunas province Water and Sanitation Project, Phase II".
The Cuban Vice-president expressed his cordial congratulations to OFID on its 43rd anniversary and he highlighted the importance of the new agreement with Cuba, which will make possible to continue ongoing works for the rehabilitation and expansion of the water supply system in the cities of Las Tunas and Puerto Padre and the villages of Menendez and Delicias. The project also comprises the execution of works which allow improving the sewer treatment and drainage system of the city of Las Tunas, among them, the construction of two new residual pumping stations, with a minimum nominal capacity 35 liters/sec.
The Cuban Vice-president explained that Las Tunas Project, like those also executed with OFID´s contribution in Trinidad, Bayamo, Guantánamo and Palma Soriano, are part of the vast hydraulic program being developed in Cuba. In this regard, he thanked OFID for its significant contribution to this sensitive sector.
Both parties expressed their willingness to continue strengthening the cooperation existing between Cuba and OFID for the past two decades, welcomed the signing of the fourteenth loan agreement, and mentioned that the projects executed and underway have benefited the agricultural sector, the rehabilitation of electricity networks, the rehabilitation of aqueduct and sewerage systems, and the renewable energies (solar energy).
The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) is the development finance institution established by the Member States of OPEC in 1976 to contribute to stimulate economic growth in the developing countries and alleviate poverty in the disadvantaged regions of the world.
(Embacuba Austria)