Australian High Commissioner officially handed Lindo Park in Goodwill to the LPI Committee on March 17

Photo: DA Vibes

​Australian High Commissioner to Dominica, John Pilbeam officially handed over Lindo Park in Goodwill, to the Lindo Park Improvement (LPI) Committee on Friday 17th March 2017. The LPI Committee commissioned upgrade works to the Lindo Park in 2015. That project which was jointly funded by the Australian and New Zealand High Commissions, the Dominica Government, and several local businesses, included fencing, lighting and construction of a jogging track.
 
Pilbeam advised that since 2005, Australia’s Direct Aid Program has funded 36 community projects across Dominica, and they are pleased to continue to do so. He acknowledged that several individuals and businesses contributed to the “not quite finished project of upgrading Lindo Park, one of Roseau’s few open spaces”.
 
He added, “Australia has played only a small role, but I would like to pay tribute to my New Zealand colleagues who helped with fencing, the Government of Dominica which finished the fence, private donors who have done things around the park to make it all as you see it today, they’ve all contributed to the work of making Lindo Park a facility everyone in Dominica can use, and be proud of”.
 
Pilbeam congratulated the Lindo Park Improvement Committee for “their hard work and organization of the handover ceremony on very short notice. Australia is pleased with what is being achieved here”. Lindo Park Improvement Committee Member Nigel Hillaire presented Pilbeam with a plaque of appreciation, & thanked business entities who supported the project, including Argos Cement, Carib Sand & Stone, Lindo Park Service Station, Matthew Brokerage and Harris Paints.
 
Hillaire advised that the overall project is not yet completed, but the phase funded by the Australian and New Zealand High Commissions is complete. He added, “what you see right now is basically about 70% done. We still have to do the covering of the jogging track. The lights are here and we have to install them. By the end of this month, the lights will be installed, and the fencing would be complete”.
 
Hillaire anticipates that the playground and the refurnishing of the basketball court, “will hopefully be done by the end of summer or before the end of summer. We are working with different companies in order to make this happen”.