By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie said yesterday the government is looking to tap into $1 billion earmarked by the Chinese government for the region, to begin a series of infrastructural upgrades throughout the country.

Mr Christie made his comments after returning from Port of Spain, Trinidad where he met with President of the People’s Republic of China Xi JingPing.

Speaking with The Tribune, Mr Christie said the President not only indicated they would provide a grant of $8 million to the Bahamas but also make $1 billion available for the Bahamas to use for infrastructural works.

Mr Christie said the $8 million dollars will be used to begin new projects he announced in the House of Assembly during his presentation of the budget and the government will use funds from the billion dollars provided to upgrade the Family Islands.

“The President indicated that China would make a grant of $8 million to the Bahamas. I suppose it would be used in the same way the grant of $5 million was used. I used that as a teaser leading into new policies and commitments for the government and during the budget you heard some of those like the new agricultural school, a commitment for a form of carnival here and form of carnival village to start in 2015 and the greenhouses that will be given to the prison and so those commitments were made and now $8 million will enable me  to immediately broaden and deepen what we do in terms of very important interventions that are necessary,” Mr Christie said.

“Equally as important, if not more important, the government of China, the President, indicated that they would make over $1 billion available for infrastructure loans to the region. To the Bahamas it means that we are able to anticipate that we are able to get loans with as low as two per cent interest. And that we have major infrastructure works like roads through the Family Islands, the Glass Window Bridge, the fishing hole in Freeport and so again as we review the offers made to us, we will look at how we use the $8 million, that was a gift and how we access funding for major infrastructure works that are necessary here in the country.”

The Prime Minister said these matters are all up for consideration by the government and he will be in a better position, as he sums up the budget debate, to inform the country on how they propose to spend the money.

Mr Christie also said the government will invest some of the money into a school for special needs children.

“It will be for children whether autistic or children with Downs Syndrome, but children whose parents have a great difficulty after they finish the normal schooling of where to keep them when they go to work. So we have made a commitment, I am the minster responsible for lands, I have told some of the people involved that it is going to be a private-public sector approach. I would also recommend they form a foundation that will attract monies for that, but that the government will move  immediately with them to identify sufficient land where children can be left in a secured place by their parents or picked up by the government and taken to this place while their parents go to work and are dropped back home. And most certainly they will have an opportunity to use their hands in some industrial sector or agricultural sector. So it is intended to be what really they have been dreaming of and as a parent of an autistic child, the greatest fear we have is what happens to our children when we pass and so that is what we are putting in place, we are putting the Bahamas on the pathway towards being able to give them the assurance that we are doing something about them.”