Press Release
For Immediate Release
Castries, Saint Lucia, April 19, 2024 – The Unleashing the Blue Economy of the Caribbean (UBEC) Project was launched on April 11th, 2024, during an official ceremony, under the esteemed direction of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development, and the Youth Economy. The ceremony provided an in-depth overview of UBEC’s mandate and its core initiatives, with Honourable Dr. Ernest Hilaire; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information; Honourable Alfred Prospere, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security, and Rural Development; and Honourable Shawn Edward, Minister for Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training all in attendance, and each representing the project’s core sectors. This event also served as an opportunity to showcase the impact that the project has had over the past few months, particularly relating to the everyday blue economy worker.
Following this momentous occasion, UBEC executed a critical project initiative in the successful procurement and commencement of distribution of 500 water tanks to various livestock farmers in St. Lucia. It is envisaged that this will greatly assist in the improvement of irrigation systems on livestock farms, therefore enabling increased quality production. The distribution commenced in agricultural region 7, specifically within the Cul De Sac Area, with livestock farmers, Mr. Thomas Alcindor and Mrs. Anne Alcindor, owners of the Ferrands Estate, receiving a 1000 gallon water tank. UBEC expects that the distribution of the water tanks will be completed within the coming weeks, with over 50 farmers earmarked to benefit from this endeavour.
UBEC is being managed by the Government of Saint Lucia, under the Ministry of Finance, and is being funded by the World Bank, to the sum of US$30 million. This project aims to stimulate economic recovery in St. Lucia, by supporting marine and coastal resilience within the tourism, fisheries, and waste management sectors. In so doing, it is expected that St. Lucia’s blue economy can drive forth substantial growth through improved sectoral cooperation and collaboration, access to financing for blue economy MSME businesses, strengthening of climate resilience initiatives, and increased employment opportunities, amongst others.
To this end, UBEC is also being used as the mechanism to initiate the Crisis Response Window (CRW) which seeks to provide support to the Ministry of Agriculture, to address the emerging risk of food insecurity. These objectives have been fast-tracked through the activation of a Crisis Emergency Response Component (CERC), which has a one-year time frame ending December 31st 2024. The CERC comprises of fifty-seven (57) activities, which are geared at providing direct assistance to farmers and fisherfolk, to augment their productivity and ensure the sustainability of their livelihoods. However, UBEC will also significantly impact the tourism and waste management sectors through the implementation of several major initiatives. Respectively, these include but are not limited to, the establishment of a dive park facility to further diversify the island’s marine-tourism product and the review and revision of the Solid Waste Management Policy to account for the increased vulnerability of the island’s environmental landscape,
It is envisaged that the allocation of these big-ticket activities for the tourism and waste management sectors, combined with direct inputs strategically selected for the agricultural sector, will collectively drive increased productivity, financial growth and boost economic and climate resilience to meet the challenges posed by climate change, COVID-19, and other factors. Speaking on the distribution of the water tanks to farmers, UBEC Project Manager, Mrs. Shermaine Clauzel explained that UBEC is driven by the need to provide tangible benefits to blue economy workers.
“UBEC was conceptualized to identify areas where the blue economy required increased support through financing, resources, direct inputs, and policy and procedure review and reform; all in an effort to protect the livelihoods of our farmers, fishermen, and several other workers who depend on this industry to survive. The project, particularly under the CERC is focused on assisting in the enhancement of food production and supply; thereby tackling the threat of food insecurity, a growing concern for many Small Island Developing States (SIDs).
I am quite pleased to announce that UBEC has successfully procured 500 water tanks to provide assistance to livestock farmers in ensuring that their farms are sufficiently irrigated, more specifically in areas which are prone to water shortages. I wish to highlight that UBEC will soon be implementing a farm worker program to provide further assistance to farmers in the form of workers to support their farming activities. Moreover, the repair of several greenhouses and the installation of new ones will deliver even more aid to farmers in augmenting their production levels and ultimately the quality of their produce. Indeed, it is an exciting time for farmers and by extension the blue economy, and UBEC is proud to be leading the course, by providing tangible benefits to the blue economy worker.”
In keeping with its mandate of strengthening food supplies in St. Lucia, UBEC will also soon implement a number of activities aimed at providing fisherfolk with storage and handling supplies, in addition to the construction several Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), in an effort to increase fishing efficiency. Collectively, these activities and others will run until the completion of the CERC. For more information on UBEC, please send an email to info.ubec@gmail.com or visit our social media profiles on Instagram and Facebook @ubec.slu.
For more information on the press release, contact:
Karen C Piper
Communications Specialist
Unleashing the Blue Economy of the Caribbean (UBEC)
Ministry of Finance, Economic Development & the Youth Economy
Financial Administrative Centre
Pointe Seraphine, Castries
+1 (758) 723 0484