THE Government of Saint Lucia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited (LUCELEC) that will provide assistance to qualifying households in the form of electricity bill credits. The initiative known as the Electricity Assistance Programme (EAP) is one of the recovery and resilience strategies of the Government of Saint Lucia’s national response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Monthly electricity bill credits in the sum of Eastern Caribbean Seventy-Five Dollars (XCD $75.00) will be applied toward the LUCELEC account of eligible persons over a period of six (6) months, from October 2020 to March 2021.
The MOU was signed during a ceremony held Wednesday in Castries, Saint Lucia at the National Television Network Headquarters, Hewannora House, Pointe Seraphine, Castries. The ceremony included Honourable Allen Chastanet, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance; Honourable Lenard Montoute, Minister for Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and Empowerment; Mrs. Velda Octave-Joseph, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Equity and the Senior Accountant, Ministry of Equity. Representing LUCELEC was Managing Director Mr. Trevor Louisy and Chief Financial Officer Mr. Ian Peter.
Through this MOU, LUCELEC and the Government of Saint Lucia have formalized the terms and responsibilities for implementation of this joint venture which seeks to provide temporary relief to qualifying households for the set period. The EAP will benefit recipients of the Public Assistance Programme (PAP), the Child Disability Grant (CDG), Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) and approved beneficiaries of the Income Support Programme (ISP) for non-contributors to the National Insurance Corporation.
The Prime Minister of Saint Lucia in his Budget Address on June 23, 2020 and at the launch of the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan on July 12, 2020 announced various strategies in the form of a multi-pronged approach in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan is the collective effort of a multi-stakeholder committee, comprising the public and private sectors and civil society, who responded to the call to assist our country in a time when our mutual creativity and highest level of collaboration were most needed.