The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL kvirgil@tribunemedia.net THE Government yesterday signed a framework agreement with China worth $40 million to complete two major projects in Abaco. Foreign Affairs Minister Brent Symonette said the loan will stand at an interest rate of two per cent yearly, to be paid in 20 years. Under the contract, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport will use the Chinese Harbour Engineering Company Ltd to complete the North Abaco Port Project and the Little Abaco Bridge Project. The government will first create a 45-acre domestic and international cargo port in Conch Creek, North Abaco, two miles north of Cooper's Town. A world class dock, the new port will also include fueling, boat maintenance, and storage facilities, office space for rent, an administrative block for the Customs and Immigration Department, and provisions for the police and defence forces to be stationed on site. To follow is the Little Abaco Bridge Project. The bridge will be built on the SC Bootle Highway, will link the cay to Great Abaco and will replace the causeway that is across Angel Fish Creek. The structure will also allow small vessels to pass through and eliminate long distance sea travel. Mr Symonette lauded the project for its significance environmentally and for its contribution to a continuous amicable relationship between the two countries. "By implementing the bridge," he said, "the environmental damage created by the causeway will be restored, allowing natural tidal flows and fish migration. "We are appreciative of the high level of economic cooperation which exists between our two countries. This cooperation is undergirded by ever strengthening cultural and educational exchanges, and commercial and investment undertakings." The sum granted the Bahamas by the Chinese now stands at $109 million.