THE latest cash donation by the Republic of China on Taiwan to the St Lucia government will benefit what have been described as “neglected” districts.
The presentation ceremony took place at the office of the Prime Minister. The funds donated will finance three key projects. These are the Forestiere Human Resource Centre – US$300,000 or EC$806,460, the Sarrot Multi-purpose Court – US$150,000 or EC$403,230 and the Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) – US$13,887 or EC$37,331.03.
Shortly before the Taiwanese Ambassador, Ray Mou presented three cheques to the government Minister for Economic Development Guy Joseph delivered a message of gratitude to the embassy and the Taiwanese Government.
Joseph expressed special thanks and appreciation to the embassy of Taiwan for coming in so quickly in assisting in this (Forestiere) project.
The Castries East MP added: “There is consideration for a special building in Forestiere that is to meet the needs of the community. This is a community where the only public building is the school and any event that has to take place within the community would have to take place at the school or a couple of the churches that are in there. A lot of these communities have been deprived of any public facilities of that nature and once again, we are seeing the Taiwanese coming through with assistance in the implementation of these projects.”
In reply Ambassador Mou said it was his government’s belief that “ through our joint effort, those programmes will continue to enhance the environment for the people, bring benefits to the local communities and will serve to further strengthen the relationship between St. Lucia and the republic of China Taiwan.”
Prime Minister Allen Chastanet expressed his gratitude, saying that he is looking forward to further interaction with the Ambassador in the near future.