Almost $2.5 million will be spent this year on the Bequia Community High School and Mary Hutchinson Primary School. Another $3.6 million is allocated to the airports in Bequia and Canouan.
Budget 2022 also allocates $500,000 to conduct technical studies and designs to upgrade the road network throughout the islands of the Grenadines.
Environmentally, the government have allocated additional resources to construct more permanent coastal protections to support the work already done at Salt Whistle Bay; further, develop the desalination plant in Bequia; and properly dispose of and secure chemicals from the decommissioned gas station on Union Island.
Pandemic-related challenges in the design of the solar photovoltaic power plant in Bequia will cause a further delay to the initiative.
Budget 2022 also invests in the expansion of the Coast Guard Sub-Base in Canouan, to ensure that it can better serve the people of the southern Grenadines.
Five additional posts, at a cost of approximately $200,000 will augment the base, and allow for the relocation of our state-of-the-art medivac vessel, the Baliceaux, to Canouan. The access road to that sub-base will also receive attention, to ensure that people in need of specialised medical care can experience a smooth and quick journey from the southern Grenadines.
In 2021, TVET instruction expanded across the Grenadines. For the first time, the YATE programme welcomed a cohort of 26 talented students from Union Island, who completed training in bartending and food and drink service.
The SKYE programme, meanwhile, conducted certification courses in housekeeping, food preparation and furniture making in Bequia. These programmes will expand in 2022 to certify young Grenadines residents for entry-level employment in in-demand fields.
Further south the government is completing an agreement that will lead to a multiyear, multimillion-dollar tourism development project on an uninhabited private island in the southern Grenadines.
Agreements are in place to facilitate smaller-scale, but nonetheless impactful projects across the Grenadines. Existing fisheries centres in the Grenadines – both private and State-supported – are experiencing expansions and upgrades.
The world-class Sandy Lane Marina in Canouan is expecting its strongest year since its construction, which will lead to more employment and wealth creation for Vincentians.
