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HOPE facelift for St. Lucia's Inner City

Posted by CaribShout on December 19, 2009 at 2:56pm

Extensive drainage repair works are currently being carried out by the Hope project on two major waterways in Rose Hill. The Holistic Opportunity for Personal Empowerment (HOPE) project is infusing optimism into the inner-city through several projects to restore the physical surroundings, improve the health of residents and build their confidence, pride and self-reliance. This is in keeping with HOPE’s mandate to reduce unemployment in the short and long term through varied and continuous projects; to provide life skills and occupational training; and promote healthy lifestyles practices. HOPE, a major component of the Social Safety Net implemented by the Government of Saint Lucia, operates through the Saint Lucia Social Development Fund (SSDF). Over the past two months, work crews have completed several assignments to beautify and upgrade infrastructure in the neighbourhoods of Rose Hill and Wilton’s Yard. Extensive drainage repair works are currently being carried out on two major waterways in Rose Hill where hundreds of thousands of dollars in government and residential infrastructure is expected to be saved. The open waterways have caused significant damage to houses and undermined key walkways, making passage through the areas unsafe. A two hundred eighty-five (285) feet long drain has been constructed at the back of the Rose Hill Community Centre to the main road. Wastewater from facility, which is utilised by the community to wash, bathe and collect drinking water, had run unchecked under the centre and residents’ houses, causing soil movement that created more damage. In an area of Rose Hill known as the Jungle, two hundred ninety (290) feet of drain is also being shaped with concrete and steel and joined to existing outlets. The drain is adjacent to steps that link a large section of the community and are traversed by hundreds of residents every day. The steps and foundations of houses were being eaten away by the flow of water through the rough dirt drain. Each project was allocated four weeks for completion. Sherman Xavier, a small contractor who has worked with the Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF) and headed the first crew to begin work under HOPE, supervises these projects. Another significant development is the resurfacing of a basketball court in Wilton’s Yard. It is expected that reopening the court to residents will serve as a buffer against negative influences by providing an outlet for youthful energy. The crew on that project, contracted by Peter Reynolds, has also engaged in several other efforts to improve the inner city. This includes a major clean-up of the remains of three burnt houses. Loads of garbage had accumulated in the area, resulting in a serious health and safety hazard. The health of residents has been further safeguarded with the reconstruction of gutters around the area, where holes in the concrete served as homes for rodents. That crew has concreted several drains in both Rose Hill and Wilton’s Yard, protecting public and private property from continued water damage. The ongoing construction work is creating employment and better living conditions by engaging and training unskilled residents of George Ville, New Village, La Cou Dou, Washington and Leslie Land. Experienced masons, steel workers and other skilled artisans provide on-the-job training to equip these individuals to source and secure employment in the future. The workers have so far met all the deadlines that have been set. Work on similar infrastructural projects continues over the next four months.
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Tags: caribbean, caribshout, lucia, st

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