A Golden Eye opportunity - Displaced hotel workers to benefit from Oracabessa Foundation project
Published:Monday | June 15, 2020 | 12:10 AMPaul Clarke/Gleaner Writer
Displaced tourism workers in Oracabessa, St Mary, stand to benefit from a start-up agriculture programme to be funded through the Oracabessa Foundation – the corporate social responsibility arm of the Golden Eye Resort.
The Farm Model Incubation Programme will be launched in July and will target persons who have lost employment as a result of COVID-19, which precipitated the closure of all hotels and resorts, including Ian Fleming’s world-famous Golden Eye property.
The foundation’s executive director, Travis Graham, noted that funds have already been raised for the undertaking.
“We are now waiting on persons to submit their business models, and in addition, we will be registering all of them through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA),” Graham said.
The first set of beneficiaries will benefit from US$10,000 from which an assessment will be made as to how to progress the programme.
Graham said the undertaking was ideal and a platform on which out-of-work people can once again become productive.
“Those who take up the offer will be able to benefit from this programme to start agricultural businesses as an alternative livelihood initiative,” he said.
“Participants will be provided with start-up supplies, training and technical support through our partners to get them to get their businesses off the ground, and we will monitor them for six months to see who stands out,” Graham added.
He explained that the persons whose business show the most promise will also be given what he calls “boost-up funding”.
“While we have not yet signed an MOU, we already know that RADA will be a central partner in this effort, and we think this is very important because everyone can see the blow to the tourism sector because of coronavirus. So for us, it is vital our community is resilient against COVID-19, and that means having our people working,” Graham said.
The Oracabessa Foundation also funds marine conservation activity in the community called the Healthy Planet Programme, under which there are four other sub-projects, including a fish sanctuary management programme in partnership with the Oracabessa Fishers Association.
The Coral Reef Rehabilitation Programme, the Oracabessa Sea Turtle Programme, which released over 25,000 turtles in the wild over 10 years, and the newest initiative, The Dive Shop – a social enterprise – are the others.
“The profits from The Dive Shop support all our marine conservation initiatives, so in all, we play an active role in the community and we intend to do our part in helping our citizens become better people for this country,” said Graham.