According to Dominica News, the project aims to improve facilities and services at Champagne Beach – a diving and snorkeling beach near the southern town of Pointe Michel – with the aim of optimizing the visitor experience and creating opportunities for entrepreneurship.
The proposed development will have a basement reception area and retail units, changing rooms, lockers and spa facilities, while the upper levels will include a restaurant and bar, toilets, an open-plan dining area and space for recreation and entertainment.
This will not only improve conditions for holidaymakers, but also create employment opportunities, from the construction phase to the operational phase, said the Minister of Finance, Economic Development, Climate Resilience and Social Security of this country, Irving McIntyre.
In his opinion, spaces dedicated to arts, crafts and culinary delights will allow locals to showcase their skills and contribute to the tourism ecosystem.
In short, there will be significant benefits for neighboring communities and stakeholders in the so-called chimney industry across the island, said McIntyre, who signed the agreement with the regional authority’s chief executive Rodinald Soomer.
Soomer maintained that the project is part of a broader initiative to respond positively to Dominica’s key development priorities, both at the national level and in the context of its integration into the development space of the geographical area.
The Development Fund is a body of the Caribbean Community mandated to provide financial or technical assistance to Member States.
Currently, Caricom consists of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands and British Virgin Islands are themselves associated members.
mem/read