West St George highlighted as the zone of development and place to be in SVG

The Constituency of West St George has been highlighted as the zone of development and place to be in St Vincent and the Grenadines now, and for the foreseeable future. This assurance was given by the sitting Parliamentary Representative of the Constituency Cecil Mckie.

Reporting to his constituents at the recently convened annual conference, Mckie reflected on the various projects and initiatives over the past twelve months and pointed to those being implemented currently and in the near future.

Highlighted as the flag bearing infrastructural projects over the period were the following: repairs with rails installed at the Fountain Bridge, ongoing road patching and repair works, the major river wall retention program at Pole Yard/ Arnos Vale area, the ongoing replacement of the three bridges at Fenton and the recently concluded school repairs project with benefits to five schools in the constituency.

The representative pointed to support provided and self help projects completed in Arnos Vale, Cane Hall, Fountain and Villa, regularising of areas of informal settlement, facilitating a better quality of life for the elderly and disadvantaged and collaborating with the authorities to have several street lights installed in potentially dangerous and dark areas across the entire constituency.

In Agriculture, the distribution of seeds, seedlings, plants, material, implements to encourage and support backyard gardening and larger farmers and promote food security in the Constituency and Country.

Several initiatives with Poultry (ducks and chickens) and rabbit farmers were cited as well as work with two schools to further develop their programmes.

Sporting initiatives were wide and varying; from assistance to individuals, teams and tournaments, to support to the recently established home for gymnastics in the area, to the purchase of land to facilitate expansion and development of the Dorsetshire Hill Playing Field, to the seating facility constructed at the Dauphine Playing Field and planned upgrades to the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex. The West St. George Primary Schools Cricket and Netball Competitions were hailed as flagship programs for the area. Social programs were also highlighted particularly those which targeted the youth, elderly and less fortunate. Distribution of wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, sticks and personal health items formed part of the ongoing support programs of the representative.

Various levels of employment creation from temporary, short to long term also formed part of the reps agenda and were highlighted in his report. Benefits from the YES and SET programs were also emphasised. The fast developing business environment in the Villa, Indian Bay, Fountain and Arnos Vale was also emphasised.

Of importance were the various December initiatives of: Light up programs in three areas, parties for the children and packages to over 300 elderly and less fortunate. Of great significance were the benefits derived through two of the four Medical Colleges being located in the Constituency.

There is an ongoing support mechanism in place which encompasses visits, donations and sourcing of items of need as identified by all six schools in the Constituency. Apart from this, specific support on programs in academics, sport, culture, music, agriculture and the environment were highlighted. The results are very encouraging: the WSG Secondary School achieved a 79% pass mark in the 2019 external CSEC exams and was the eighth best performing school in SVG and three of the five primary schools achieved a 100% pass mark in the 2019 CPEA exams.

He said there were several projects to be implemented including developing of the new city through commerce, the Business Centre and new hospital and The PAVE Project.

The Parliamentary Representative was elected to office in the Constituency of West St George in December 2010 and was returned in December 2015 and has held the portfolios of Minister of Tourism, Sports and Culture from 2012 to present.