Treasure Beach gets $1.5m donation

TREASURE BEACH, St Elizabeth:

THE VISION of making Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth, the premier sports tourism destination in the Caribbean is one step closer to reality as the Bank of Nova Scotia Foundation has donated $1.5 million to the Breds Treasure Beach Foundation for the construction of a mega basketball court.

The cheque was presented to chairman of the foundation, Jason Henzell, recently by president and CEO of the Scotiabank Group, Bruce Bowen, at the centennial anniversary celebration of the Scotia group's Black River branch.

In expressing his gratitude for the donation, Henzell said the Breds and Bank of Nova Scotia's foundations are working together not only to raise funds for the construction of the court, but are also in talks regarding the establishment of a kiddies cricket programme with the primary schools in the Greater Treasure Beach area.

Development plan

The donation by BNS Foundation comes at a time when the Treasure Beach community is leading the thrust for sustainable tourism in the parish.

The tone was set earlier this year when the Greater Treasure Beach Sustainable Development Plan was launched. The plan, which uses the local sustainable development plan principles, seeks to find the appropriate development programme and practices for the community, which falls within its remit. For Treasure Beach, the focus has so far been sports tourism as well as agro-tourism, and recently a new dimension dubbed geo-tourism has been uncovered.

Treasure Beach already attracts thousands annually for its flagship sports competitions, the Jake's off-road triathlon and the beach football tournament. The addition of the sports park will bring first-class cricket, football, and basketball to the community, giving the youth an opportunity to hone their skills.

- André Gordon