THE Rotary club of St. Lucia recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA), under the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF).
The fund was set up during the leadership of NooraniAzeez.
According to Former Rotary President Konrad Wagner, who delivered a brief bio on Azeez, who was also the guest speaker said: āToday we are benefiting from a project by Mr.Azeez, which started during his stewardship at the SLHTA.ā
The TEF is a private sector initiative established in 2013, it was designed to allow the Tourism industry a greater opportunity to play an integral role in the sustainable development of our destination.
TEF is financed by a small, voluntary donation from guests of $2 USD per night, and goes towards community development and environmental projects and actions which will affect the livelihoods of our current and future generations.
By collecting a small voluntary fee from visitors, SLHTA is able to support projects specific to ensuring that our island is clean and safe for visitors and residents alike, including the beautification of specific areas of St. Lucia
In presenting his address the former Executive Director of the St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association, NooraniAzeez said ā we have developed several other projects like the Jus Sail youth development progamme helping young men to learn how to sail, also we have created a WhatsApp platform for some four hundred farmers and hotels enabling them to sell directly to the hotels.ā
Azeez went on to say ā after months of discussion am pleased to announce TEF will back the wheelchair project to the tune of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, which will be delivered in three tranches of forty thousandā
In accepting the cheque, the clubās fifth female president, former banker Soraya Warner-Gustave
Said: āAs we seek to provide this simple but impactful resource that improve mobility encourage independence, and by extension enhances the quality of life of these individuals this significant contribution, will therefor enable us to fulfill what we consider to be an obligation to serve this particular unit in society, and to provide hundreds of wheelchairs to children, teenagers, adults within our communities with these physical disabilities, we are truly grateful for this partnershipā
The project which began some fifteen years ago with the wheelchair foundation has delivered over 500 wheelchairs to needy persons on the island.