Puerto Rico is earmarked to receive nearly US$6 billion in federal stimulus money and plans to focus on renovating schools, roads and public housing, the United States territory's public utilities director said Wednesday.

The projects are expected to create a high number of jobs, although temporary ones, said Jose Ortiz Vazquez, who is overseeing distribution of the stimulus money.

The Caribbean island of nearly four million people is struggling through its third year of recession and has an unemployment rate of more than 15 per cent.

Ortiz said Puerto Rico has received US$539 million so far from the US$787 billion package aimed at resuscitating the US economy.

That doesn't include US$600 million in checks that are going out beginning this week to people who qualify for a one-time US$300 payment.

Plans have been drawn up for upgrading roads, sewage systems and public housing, Ortiz said.

The government also will improve bathrooms, roofs and handicapped access at more than 200 schools across the island.

Ortiz said some of the money would be used to help poor or unemployed Puerto Ricans. The nearly 1.2 million people who use food stamps are already getting an additional US$25 a month and those receiving unemployment benefits are to be paid an additional US$25 a week, he said.

Economist Argeo Quinones cautioned against investing too much in infrastructure. He said the funds will provide some relief but urged the government to develop a long-term economic growth plan.

"When you are talking about limited resources like ours, with an extremely high level of inequality and poverty, you cannot simply invest in more bridges, more roads, more schools, more hospitals," he said. "You need to have an idea of where you want to go."

Ortiz disagreed, saying new laws that strengthen public-private relations and accelerate the permit process for private construction will help keep the economy buoyant after the funds run out.

Guyana warns of blackouts

The state-run power company is warning residents in this South American country to brace for months of rolling blackouts and limit energy consumption.

Demand has exceeded capacity, and all-day blackouts in some areas will continue until new generators are installed in October, said Guyana Power and Light CEO Bharat Dindyal.

He met late Wednesday with the utilities regulatory commission that says it has received numerous complaints from clients about voltage fluctuations ruining TVs and microwaves.

A weekly blackout guide published in Sunday newspapers is inaccurate because new areas experiencing problems have not been included, Dindyal said.

The company announced in June that it would access Venezuela's PetroCaribe fund to buy US$30 million in generators to help end blackouts, which it blames on old equipment and contaminated fuel.

It also has requested a $40 million loan from China to update its electrical system.

Guyana Power and Light uses roughly 3,000 barrels of oil a day and has struggled to pay suppliers.

Airport safety equipment

Guyana has bought US$3.4 million (GY$700 million) in navigation and weather-prediction systems that pilots have long demanded to improve safety at the South American country's main airport.

The Civil Aviation Authority director says pilots soon will receive real-time weather reports instead of hourly updates.

Zilfikar Mohamed said Canadian company Intelcan Technosystems also will supply landing instruments and distance-measuring systems.

Equipment failure at Cheddi Jagan International Airport has forced cancellation of flights in recent years.

Authorities recently borrowed lights from Barbados after a malfunction that restricted international flights to daylight hours.

Most of the airport's equipment is more than 25 years old.

CEMEX wraps up refinancing programme

Mexican cement maker Cemex said at the top of the week that it has completed the refinancing of the majority of the company's outstanding debt.

The deals struck extend the maturities on some US$15 billion in syndicated and bilateral obligations with approximately 75 banks and private placement noteholders.

Cemex, which is led by Lorenzo Zambrano, the chairman and CEO, will repay its debts on a semi-annual amortisation schedule, with a final maturity of February 14, 2014.

The company will repay its bankers at LIBOR plus 4.5 per cent, while bondholders will be paid at a fixed 8.91 per cent.

The private placement investors hold US$895 million of Cemex's debt.

"Final documentation has been signed and all conditions precedent have been satisfied in full," the company said.

Mexico to import 400,000 tons of sugar

Mexican authorities facing a drought-weakened sugar crop have authorised the import of 400,000 tons of sugar for the rest of this year.

That's up 56 per cent from last year, when the US Department of Agriculture put Mexico's imports at 226,000 tons of sugar.

Mexico's Treasury Department says 10 per cent of the sugar will be imported free of tariffs from Nicaragua.

The rest will be purchased through a bidding process.

The government published the change in the official registry.

AP and Gleaner reports