THE St Lucia Development Bank (SLDB) is offering Saint Lucians loans with interest rates as low as 4.5 percent to strengthen resilience to natural and climate-related disasters.
The low interest rates are courtesy of the Climate Adaptation Financing Facility (CAFF), an exciting initiative available at the SLDB, geared towards assisting householders and businesses with financing to undertake projects to measurably reduce their risks to these disasters.
With climate change wreaking havoc on countries worldwide, particularly Small Island Developing States like Saint Lucia, the SLDB said it is acutely aware of the need to provide vulnerable households and businesses with much needed financial support to undertake preventative measures to better withstand the negative impacts of disasters like the Christmas Eve Trough and Hurricane Tomas.
Eligible households and businesses can obtain low cost loans to: finance investments such as rainwater harvesting systems; improve drainage; strengthen roofs and windows; install solar power systems, construct irrigation systems, green-houses and embark on other climate adaptation measures.
In arriving at loan terms and conditions, comprehensive surveys of selected households and businesses throughout Saint Lucia were conducted which produced valuable insight into the climate adaptation and disaster mitigation needs of the Bank’s potential clients.
The CAFF is part of a US$68 million investment by the World Bank in the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP), the largest project ever undertaken by the World Bank in Saint Lucia and the Eastern Caribbean. The DVRP, officially launched in December 2014, aims to reduce the country’s vulnerability to disasters and to improve its resilience to climate change.
Applicants are encouraged to visit the Saint Lucia Development Bank situated at # 4 Bridge Street, Castries or telephone 4567532 for further information.