Community Pulse

RESDP Consultants Present to Fellow Caribbean Consultants on Stakeholder Engagement

On June 18, 2026, RESDP’s Social Development and Safeguards Specialist, Dominic Alexander, and Communications Specialist, Windia Jaunai, presented virtually to over 64 other regional environmental and social specialist and practitioners working across the Caribbean region and development partners at the Caribbean Development Bank and InternationalAmerican Development Bank on the conduct of stakeholder engagement. The presentation was the first of the World Bank’s Caribbean Environmental & Social (E&S) Learning Series.

The objective of the Caribbean E&S Learning Series is to provide an informal platform for practitioners to share experiences with ESF implementation in the region. This inaugural session highlighted stakeholder engagement good and innovative practices from projects in Saint Maarten (Improving Mental Health Services), Saint Lucia (Renewable Energy Sector Development Project), and Dominica (Geothermal Risk Mitigation Project). The St. Lucian consultants addressed the participants on the stakeholder landscape, stakeholder engagement strategy, what worked and did not work, and key takeaways.

According to communications specialist, Windia Jaunai, “The World Bank identified the RESDP as a model project with effective stakeholder engagement and thus the session was an opportunity for my colleague and I to share our experiences with other esteemed practitioners in the environmental and social field on what has worked for us in St. Lucia and the pitfalls to avoid.”

Consultations with Stakeholders to Discuss Imminent Civil Works Planned for Late August

During the third week of August, the project’s PIU and Exploration Management Consultant, together with the selected civil works firms, will be meeting with the residents of the drilling communities. The selection of the final civil works contractors is ongoing but expected to be completed by mid-August. The meeting will be primarily to inform stakeholders on the upcoming civil works, but it will also be used to discuss project progress, and report on the performance of the Grievance Redress Management Mechanism, inter alia.

As customary, meetings will be held in Fond St. Jacques, Belle Plaine and Saltibus. At present meetings are planned for the Green Room on Monday, August 17; Country Lime for Tuesday, August 18 and Lambert’s Disco for Wednesday, August 19, 2026. All residents and affected people are encouraged to attend.

At the proposed meetings, the civil works contractors will address stakeholders on work implementation and resource requirements while the parliamentary representatives of Soufriere and Choiseul have been invited to address constituents about their concerns about the project.

As was tried previously, a Children’s Corner will be available for parents who want their children to accompany them to the meeting. In addition, vulnerable project affected persons requiring transportation or with special needs could reach out to the project on telephone number (758) 732-0030 to discuss how the project could facilitate their attendance at the relevant meeting.