The Petite Savanne Constituency was dealt a hard blow after the passage of Tropical Storm Erika in 2015.
Many residents had to be relocated due the devastation wreaked by the tropical storm. Since then the Government of Dominica has made significant investments in various sectors to help rebuild the constituency.
The sporting sector is one area which has seen such investments, as residents of Bagatelle can now boast of the newly rehabilitated playing field and basketball court.
“We renovated the basketball court a few months ago. We spent a significant sum of money to get the proper surface, the proper backboards etc. Also to the back of the basketball court, you can also appreciate the work that has been done on the Bagatelle playing field; resurfacing and fencing along with other works,” stated Member of Parliament for the Petite Savanne Constituency, Honourable Dr. Kenneth Darroux.
These developments were done last year, in order to facilitate community sports.
Sports Coordinator, Trevor Shillingford noted that there is always room for improvement when it comes to the participation of the youth in community sports. He says the Sports Division will organize sports committees within the communities to create a structure to enhance sports across the island.
Mr. Shillingford stated that he believes the development of sports will help break down barriers and bring people together.
“In recent times, that a lot of emphasis have been placed on the development of sporting facilities, and I think that will work well for the overall development of our people and our country,” Shillingford noted.
Meanwhile, work is nearing completion on the new Bagatelle health and wellness facility. The Government of Dominica has spent in excess of two million dollars on this project.
The new health center forms part of government’s mandate to build a modern, smart, resilient and robust health system around the country, as the government seeks to provide easy access to health care facilities for all sections of the community from the most vulnerable upwards with the goal being a fully inclusive health care access policy.
“Works are at an advanced stage of the new Bagatelle Health Center. It is part of the twelve health centers being constructed by the MMCE under the Citizenship By Investment Programme. Now it is significant to note that this new health center is going to give way for the demolition of the old health center to construct new housing units for the residents of Bagatelle,” the MP stated.
A new health and wellness facility has also been built in Bellevue Chopin.
Prime Minister of Dominica, Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit says this is a realization of the enhancement of primary health care services in Dominica.
“This can also be translated into improved care for our citizens and residents. There will be no complaints now of the quality of the services or the quality of the equipment. I am happy for this investment here and we will have a series of openings of these kind of facilities across Dominica in the few weeks ahead,” the Prime Minister explained.
MP for the Petite Savanne Constituency added that one of the initiatives of the Government is to name the health and wellness facility after a person who have contributed medically in that constituency.
The constituency will also see the benefits of a new Bagatelle water supply valued at almost one million dollars. This major project is the result of a collaboration between the Government, the Basic Needs Trust Fund Programme (BNTF) and the Dominica Water and Sewerage Company (DOWASCO).
The new intake will benefit residents of Bagatelle, Fond St. Jean and Pointe Caribe.
The water intake project, which is expected to last six months, was conceptualized under BNTF-8 and is being funded by the Caribbean Development Bank.
“The intake was really in a sorry state of disrepair, sometimes could be considered almost unhygienic. And with the passage of Tropical Storm Erika and Hurricane Maria, as you can well imagine would have almost completely destroyed the original intake which was done decades ago,” the MP stated.
The Member of Parliament added that he is happy to see the start of his long awaited project which will include the replacement of all pipes in the communities set to benefit from the intake.
“So this new upgrade was approved years ago and I’m really happy to see it has finally started and is ongoing. So while this looks like a modest project, this is just the intake part of it. The complete project involves the complete relaying and replacement of all of the pipes throughout the communities of Bagatelle, Fond St. Jean and Pointe Caribe,” Dr. Darroux noted.
A new bailey bridge is Bagatelle is also ongoing in the constituency. This project which costs over 2 million dollars will benefit the entire constituency when completed.
“We felt the need to live up to the commitment that we made to the residents of that area. So I am very upbeat, very optimistic, much more relieved about this project,” Dr. Darroux noted.
Prime Minister Skerrit described the project as a massive investment for the residents of Bagatelle.
He stated that the bridge has been a source of discussion as many of the residents were relocated after the devastation of past natural disasters.
“The incompleteness of the bridge was a major sore point for a vast majority of the residents in Bagatelle. I know there are people who have felt like the monies could have been spent otherwise because there are very few homes beyond this bridge and there are many people who felt like we relocated the residents across the bridge so the cost of investment would be a lot lower. But we understand that when somebody is accustomed to their home for so many decades, they don’t want to move and we respect that. So I am very happy with this and we look forward to its completion,” Prime Minister Skerrit explained.
A fish landing site in Stowe which was severely damaged by the passage of Hurricane Maria in 2017 has since been rehabilitated.
The Government of Dominica has spent in excess of six hundred thousand dollars on this project which will benefit both the Petite Savanne Constituency and the Grand Bay Constituency when complete.
“The fishermen of this area have been putting real pressure on me, especially post Maria when this landing site was rendered almost unusable. But we have spent well over six hundred thousand dollars with a contractor from Grand Bay to improve the landing site,” the MP noted.
He went on to say that he is satisfied with the work of the contractor, and he is “happy that we could make the lives of the fishermen easier.”
Dr. Darroux added that he, along with the MP for the Grand Bay constituency, are in talks with the Japanese Government through the Ambassador to Japan to move forward with development plans for the area.
The Petite Savanne believes this landing site has the potential to be more than a landing site. He says the area can serve as an evacuation site during times of emergency and he is satisfied with the works done on this project thus far.
These major developments continue to show Government’s commitment to uplifting the lives of the vulnerable and all other citizens from all walks of life. By increasing the standard of living for residents and citizens, Government can fulfill its mandate of building a resilient and modern nation.