President-elect Hipólito Mejía met yesterday with the World Bank representative in the DR, Marco Mantovanelli. Mantovanelli explained that the Fernández administration had been slow in disbursing the US$300 million in loans approved by the institution, and thus only 40% of the money has been used. The PRD administration will be left with US$180 million in World Bank funding, including most of the funding approved for irrigation and primary education. Mantovanelli also offered World Bank cooperation for a project to improve transmission of power in the DR. The World Bank portfolio includes: Roads US$75 million Basic health programs, US$30 million Environment, US$3 million Emergencies, US$111.1 million (used for Hurricane Georges) Sewage Disposal, US$5 million Telecommunications, US$12.8 million Irrigation and drainage, US$28 million Primary education, US$37 million The President-elect visited the World Bank offices in Santo Domingo accompanied by Vice President-elect Milagros Ortiz Bosch (to be appointed Minister of Education), César Sánchez (to be appointed CDE administrator), Rafael Calderón (to be appointed Technical Secretary of the Presidency), César Cedeño (to be appointed Minister of Sports), Milton Ray Guevara, Sergio Grullón Estrella, and Fernando Duran. In addition to Mantovanelli, at the World Bank they met with Salem Rohana, International Finance Corporation representative, and Philippe Auffret, liaison economist between DR and Haiti, among others.
