In pursuance of the execution of the Indigenous Peoples Policy (IPP), the Housing Recovery Project – Project Implementation Unit (HRP-PIU), hosted a workshop on December 1st, 2021 for all contractors within the Kalinago Territory. The workshop was designed to build capacity on resilient construction techniques and safeguards requirements. In his welcome remarks, Chief Lorenzo Sanford set the tone for the session.
“The Housing Recovery Project Implementation Unit has been working well within the Kalinago space. There are numerous houses that have started already and the reason that you are here is to be guided by a process so that you can take on the various projects that are happening within our space…I see it as something beneficial for you and for the further development of the Kalinago Territory,” he said.
Ten contractors were in attendance and the Kalinago Chief urged them to participate fully in the exercise.
“Whatever you learn here today will go very far. In the past, within the Kalinago Territory, we haven’t had a lot of Kalinago contractors being pushed, taking up the mantle of tendering for homes so I want you to take heed of everything that you learn here today so that we can see a new generation of contractors being made through you,” he added.
Chief Lorenzo said that the training will help them not only under the HRP but with other projects in the Kalinago Territory and closed by thanking the HRP for organizing the session.
Engineering Consultant with the World Bank, Daniel Campbell, provided a step-by-step guide into the tendering process. He said his job there was to make sure that no one in the room will ever submit a bid that is non-responsive, meaning all requirements were not submitted and the bid discarded as a result. Lolita Raffoul, the HRP Environmental Specialist, shared her expertise on the Environmental, Social, Health & Safety (ESHS) requirements of the Project, especially as they relate to the responsibilities of contractors on sites and measures to mitigate any possible liability.
The HRP-PIU is spearheaded by the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica and financed by the World Bank through a US$30M grant and a US$10M credit. The World Bank was the first multilateral development bank to introduce an Indigenous Peoples Policy so, in Dominica, the Project takes into consideration the social, cultural, demographic and political characteristics within the Kalinago Territory.
