BID okays $12 million loan for tourist project in Honduras

The Inter American Development Bank (BID is the acronym in Spanish) informed it has given the green light to grant a $12 million loan aimed at buttressing a tourist and environmental management program in the archipelago of Islas de la Bahia.

The money will be used to strengthen the environmental management of local coastal and marine resources, as well as to reinforce sustainable economic development on Islas de la Bahia, a major Honduran tourist project.

The fast economic and demographic growth of the archipelago –some 50 km off the Atlantic shoreline and made up of three main islands plus some 60 smaller islets- has outdone both infrastructure and service capabilities in recent years.

These islands, harboring Honduras’ traditional fishing industry and welcoming an increasingly larger number of tourists, require a new wave of investment to bankroll sustainable programs in public services and environmental protection.

The new loan allows municipal authorities to both enhance and improve water supply, sewage systems and treatment of solid wastes on the islands of Utila, Guanaja and Roatan. It will also increase local capabilities to plan and manage the area’s tourist development.

The program –to be developed by Honduras’ Tourism Institute- also includes the establishment of a fare system to be levied on the preservation and management of protected areas with a view to assure sustainability.