French Assistance for Saint Lucia

Contact: Julita Peter

Monday, May 28, 2001 – The Government of Saint Lucia and the Republic of France on Monday signed three agreements that are expected to result in a better water supply to the north of the island, assistance to St. Lucia’s Poverty Reduction Fund, and improved cooperation between the two governments in maritime search and rescue.  The agreements were signed by St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Honourable Dr. Kenny D. Anthony and the French Ambassador to Saint Lucia and the OECS, His Excellency Henri Vidal. 

The first agreement makes provision for the French Government, through the French Development Agency, to provide a financial loan of over three million United States dollars towards the construction of a 6.7 kilometre pipeline to run treated water between Bananes Bay in the city and Choc Bay in the north. The Government of Saint Lucia will provide 2.5 million East Caribbean dollars for the project.  This new pipeline is expected to cater for the increased demands for water as a result of the rapid expansion in development in the north of the island.

The second agreement will make available the sum of one hundred and fifty four thousand dollars (EC$154,000.00) to the Poverty Reduction Fund and complements a similar financial agreement, which was signed recently between the Government of France and the United Nations Development Programme to assist the member countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in the fight against poverty. 

“This is a further example of our commitment to alleviate poverty in the OECS and in St. Lucia. I feel proud to sign these agreements, which again intensifies the diverse relationship between the two parties,” said His Excellency Henri Vidal, Ambassador of France to the OECS. 

In affixing his signature to that agreement, Prime Minister Anthony noted that during a recent meeting here of the Caribbean Development Bank, St. Lucia was highly commended for its poverty reduction strategy.  He added: “At this time, poverty reduction has touched every community in St. Lucia. This injection will ensure that poverty will be alleviated.  The Caribbean Development Bank indicated that St. Lucia is being continuously studied as a model for other islands, and I have a feeling that if France was not impressed with the work that the Poverty Reduction Fund was doing, then it would not, so generously, have made available the sum of 430,000 French Franc to that fund.”

The third agreement has formalised bi-lateral assistance on Maritime Search and Rescue between Martinique and St. Lucia.

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