BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Substantial progress to help Grenada rebuild after Hurricane Ivan is being made as the United States government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and its partners step up their recovery efforts on the island. Working in conjunction with the Government of Grenada and the CARANA Corporation, USAID formalized five grant agreements with several local groups to support skills training for workers in key productive areas such as the small, medium and micro enterprise sector; tourism and construction in a signing ceremony held at the Ministry of Education, Grenada on December 1, 2004. The grant agreements will help restore Grenada’s productive capacity and focus on skills training for displaced workers. They are part of a larger U.S. government program for recovery in Grenada, totaling $42.3 million, which will reconstruct houses, schools, medical clinics, and community centers. Funding will also be made available for micro-credit programs, agriculture and watershed rehabilitation, as well as skills training to enhance employment. The five NGO’s receiving the grants and implementing the training programs are the Grenada Citizen Advice and Small Business Agency (GRENCASE); the Program for Adolescent Mothers, managed by Grenada Save the Children Agency (GRENSAVE); the Grenada National Organization of Women (GNOW); the New Life Organization (NEWLO); and T.A. Marryshow Community College (TAMCC). Additional grant agreements and other initiatives will be announced in the near future. Reprinted from Caribbean Net News caribbeannetnews.com