What projects will Caribbean countries deliver in 2020?

Although the Caribbean region has fewer infrastructure projects than the rest of Latin America, important ones are underway for 2020. 

Caribbean countries are driven by tourism and maritime transport due to their strategic position in the Atlantic. But the islands’ location also exposes them to natural disasters.

In 2019, some of the region’s countries designated part of their annual budget to the reconstruction and protection of their infrastructure due to hurricane season and earthquakes. Meanwhile, others received international help. 

For example, the European Investment Bank announced earlier in December that it would allocate US$50mn to Princess Juliana international airport (PJIAE) serving the islands of Saint Martin, Saba St. Eustatius, Anguilla, St. Barthélemy, Nevis and the British Virgin Islands. The airport was heavily damaged by hurricanes Irma and Maria this year.

Though the year was complicated for Caribbean countries in terms of infrastructure, some of them did start new projects above US$100mn that are likely to be completed in 2020, according to BNamericas project database.

BNamericas takes a look those projects in the Caribbean.

JAMAICA

Work on the first stage of the Jamaica Southern Coastal Highway Improvement Project (SCHIP) kicked off on November 16 and will extend into 2020.

Initial investment reached US$195mn and works are being executed by China Harbour Engineering (CHEC). 

According to the government, the plan entails the rehabilitation of about 110km of road between Harbour View in St. Andrew and Port Antonio in Portland and will also extend 526km from Morant Bay to Cedar Valley in St. Thomas.

Construction was originally scheduled to begin in 2018 but was tendered only in March due to budget adjustments.

In August, CHEC and the government signed three of the five subcontracts with Alcar Construction & Haulage, Construction Solutions and Y.P. Seaton and Associates for the first phase corresponding to the rehabilitation of the road from Harbor View to Cedar Valley.

More details will emerge next year when other stages of construction are announced. 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

The Caribbean country with the most infrastructure projects planned for 2020, the government of the Dominican Republic recently opened a second stretch of the Juan Bosch beltway. The 16km stretch, also called 2B, now links kilometer 23 of Duarte highway with Juan Pablo II highway, and a last-minute investment adjustment had the complete price tag at nearly US$164mn. 

Two other major projects, the government hopes, will start operations next year.

One is the expansion of the Caucedo multimodal port, also referred to as DP World Caucedo port expansion. It began in January 2019 and should be completed by spring 2020. 

Port operator DP World Caucedo invested US$1bn and was granted the concession of the multimodal port. The expansion will add 400m to the port's facility and increase port depth to 5.5m, according to the operator. 

Planning for the second project began on January 15, daily El Caribe reported. It involves a new cruise terminal for US$125mn at Puerto Plata in San Felipe municipality. 

At a press conference earlier this month, representatives of the tourism ministry, port authority and the consortium that was awarded the concession to operate the port – Puerto Plata Port Investment – said the harbor could start receiving cruises and tourists in November 2020.

According to consortium representatives, the port will receive about 650,000 tourists and 150 ships in 2021. 

TRINIDAD &TOBAGO

Building a central tower block at Port of Spain General Hospital is a key 2020 infrastructure project for the island. Work started this year and will be completed in January, finance minister Colm Im­bert said in October while announcing a US$6bn package for the health sector. 

The project is being developed by Shanghai Construction Group, which also helped complete the Couva children’s hospital and a multi-training facility. 

Based on an Inter-American Dialogue study, Trinidad & Tobago received US$2.6bn in Chinese financing from 2005 to 2018.

The hospital was structurally damaged by an earthquake last year and the Chinese group is helping with rebuilding.  

Pictured: Juan Bosch beltway second stretch in Dominican Republic. (Credit:  Gobierno de Republica Dominicana).