The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has awarded a USD10,000 grant to Choiseul Youth and Sports Council, Choiseul, St. Lucia to implement a road safety project in their district.

The grant award follows a challenge issued by the Bank in May of this year to participants in its VYBZING Youth Forum in St. Lucia, to prepare and submit proposals for community-based projects for funding consideration, centred around this year’s VYBZING theme, “Road Safety: Save a Life, Save a Future.”

Ms. Angela Parris, Manager, Information Services Unit and Coordinator of VYBZING noted, “VYBZING aims to engage and empower young people so that they can become active participants in the development process.  We are very pleased with the response by St. Lucia’s youth to the challenge. The proposals submitted were varied in their focus, and ranged from projects on driving etiquette training for public motor omnibus drivers, to the creation of a Community Academy for Road Safety (CARS). A team of judges from the Bank’s Projects Department and Information Services Unit selected the winning proposal. ”

The winning submission by the Choiseul Youth and Sports Council focuses on the erection of road signage and protective barriers in Sab Wisha and Troumassee, and includes a road safety public awareness campaign.

President of the Council, Mr. Charde Desir explained, “In 2010, 17 persons died in a road accident in Morne Sion, Choiseul, when a bus drove over a cliff and plunged into the sea. This is the single most costly accident in terms of lives lost in St. Lucia’s history. Government has since put safety measures in this area; however, there are other similar areas in Choiseul where improvements in road marking, signage and barriers are desperately needed. CDB’s challenge has provided us with a welcomed opportunity to make improvements in two such areas – Sab Wisha and Troumassee.”

The CDB and St. Lucia’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Port Services and Transport will work closely with the Choiseul Youth and Sports Council to refine the proposal for implementation. It is expected that the project will be implemented between November 2013 and April 2014. CDB will be the executing agency and the Ministry of Infrastructure, Port Services and Transport will monitor and supervise  the project.

The VYBZING Youth Forum is part of the CDB’s Youth VYBZING Outreach Programme. For more information on VYBZING, visit the VYBZING: CDB and Youth page of CDB’s website, www.caribank.org.