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Contact:
Julita Peter
Monday, July 12, 2004 - St. Lucia will chair the 12th Meeting of the OECS
Technical Advisory Committee from July 13th -14th, 2004, at the Royal St. Lucian
Resort and Spa. That meeting will precede the 8th Meeting of the Environmental
Policy Committee of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
Ministers for the Environment, which takes place here from July 15th to the
16th. Over 30 delegates from the region and Puerto-Rico are expected to attend,
including representatives of donor agencies, such as the World Bank, CIDA, and
the European Union.
The Environmental Policy Committee meeting is to examine some of the critical
emerging environmental issues in the sub region, especially as they relate to
trade and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy. The meeting will also look at
the greater importance that environment has to play in national development.
Another significant feature of this meeting will be the signing of a Memorandum
of Understanding between the Ministers for the Environment of the OECS and the
Province of Nova Scotia in Canada.
According to Christopher Corbin, Sustainable Environment Officer, Ministry of
Physical Development, Environment and Housing, this MOU seeks to strengthen ties
in the area of environmental management, promote business exchanges, and foster
closer ties with Nova Scotia, Canada, which is one of St. Lucia’s traditional
sources of technical support.
“Really what we are hoping to get out of this meeting, especially at the
Ministerial level is some clear policy direction as to where the sub-region is
going to focus limited resources in the area of environmental management, and to
be able to strategically position ourselves so that we can more effectively
benefit from the liberalization that is taking place in the economic arena,”
said Mr. Corbin.
The St. Lucia meeting will be used as a platform for the upcoming Mauritius
Conference scheduled for January 2005, and a later meeting of the Ministers of
the Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean.
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