Residents of communities between Sandy Bay and Fancy were on hand last weekend, as General Manager of LIME, Leslie Jack, and members of staff dropped in at the Owia Government School for the second in the company’s town hall meeting series.
The venue was packed to capacity, as once again Jack and community leaders exchanged ideas on how LIME could fulfil its corporate responsibilities in North Windward.
Jack promised to provide Blackberry smartphones to teachers at three learning institutions.
Education and sports development took priority for the community members, who highlighted the issue of transportation for students travelling from Fancy to the Sandy Bay Secondary School.
Jack learned that students who were not able to afford the bus fare, and were not able to get a ride on the lone subsidized bus trip to school, would most often miss classes for the day.
He promised that he would look into the matter and see where LIME can play a beneficial role.
The construction of seating and washrooms at the playing field in Owia was also an area of concern for residents, and the residents called for top athletes from the area to be given LIME ambassadorial status, and suggested that a billboard in their honour be installed at the bus shed that is to be constructed.
Jack gave a commitment that the entire LIME team will turn out to help on the day that construction of the bus shed begins.
The meeting, which was once again broadcast live on NICE Radio, was also graced by the presence of the LIME Soca Dans, who along with Jack and his team interacted with those attendees.
Residents are also going to be treated to remarkable deals on phones, as well as free Internet service.
Meanwhile, LIME made good on the fans and soccer balls, promised to community leaders during their first town hall meeting in Barrouallie.
Last Monday, Jack handed over fans for use at the Barrouallie Community Centre, and soccer balls for use by youth in the community.
The fans were received by Alexia Charles while Robert Chambers accepted the balls.
The people of North Winward are grateful for the promised to provide Blackberry smartphones to teachers at three learning institutions. However, to what extent is this going to benefit the residence in the communities? One would expect that a corporation like LIME would be, (1) more generous than that, (2) thinking of development at a higher level, and their contributions to the society should benefit everyone on a long term basis.
I recommend, instead of giving cell phones to the three institutions selected, give then a computer and projector and promise to maintain, update and replace the equipment over a period, This contribution will be of more value the community as all students will benefit. The children are the future and proper learning facilities will go a long way.
In regards to the telephones, LIME can afford to give all teachers in the North Winward, in fact throughout St. Vincent and the grenadines, a monthly discount on their cell phone bills; regardless to if they have a prepaid or postpaid plan. This will be a contribution to the education and the development of the nation.
Fans and footballs are appreciated, but LIME can certainly do better.
I suppose they will get the money back for the phones from the call fees. They could afford to give everyone a new phone as long as they are paying for phone calls, free phones happen in the US and UK, its nothing new, except the number three is a bit poor as a give away.
Oh! and by the way if a new bus shelter is built, please put tables in so as locals can use it as a shop [as usual].
Hi Anthony and Peter,
Thanks for your comments. We do appreciate them. LIME is committed to helping the communities it serves.
Our series of Town Hall meetings, like those in Owia and Barrouallie, has proven quite useful in understanding the issues affecting people in those communities — from the transportation woes of schoolchildren in Fancy to the need for washrooms facilities at the Owia playing field.
As we plan ahead for the new financial year, the information gleaned from these meetings and through our daily interaction with our customers and Vincentians in general, will help us budget accordingly.
Finally, I invite you to come out to one of our Town Hall meetings and speak with members of our team, or myself. They are usually lively events and there youll learn about the community projects LIME supports.
Our next meeting is scheduled for this Saturday, 19 October, at the Adult and Continuing Education centre in Questelles. I hope to see you then.
If you have additional feedback, I’d love to hear them. Please contact me at 452 1212.