Improved Ambulance Service for two Communities

Contact: Julita Peter

Monday, February 26, 2001 - If you live in the densely populated communities of Babonneau in the north and Mon Repos in the east, an improved ambulance service is soon going to be at your disposal should the need arise.

The Government of Japan, under its Grant Assistance for Grass Roots Projects, has handed over to the St. Lucia Fire Service two fully equipped ambulances, valued at over EC$150,000.00 to serve these two communities. As a result, their dependence on central ambulance services will be reduced.

"It is the sincere hope of the Government of Japan that the ambulances will assist the St. Lucia Fire Service in handling emergencies more efficiently, and that through this project the mutual relationship between the two governments would be strengthened and further promoted," Japan’s Ambassador, Eija Tamatsukuri, said at the handing over ceremony.

Receiving the vehicles on behalf of the Government and People St. Lucia, Chief Fire Officer Augustin Gaspard, assured Ambassador Tamatsukuri that the ambulances would be properly maintained.

This is not the first time that the St. Lucia Fire Service has benefited from Japanese assistance. Through the Japanese Internal Cooperation Agency (JICA), six fire officers have been to Tokyo for disaster emergency training.

Japan established the Grass Roots Assistance Programme in 1989, initially with a view to providing non-refundable financial assistance to non-governmental organizations such as medical institutions and local community governments in developing countries.

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