By Theresa Goodwin
The Antigua Beekeepers Cooperative Society Limited is one step closer to completing upgrades on a building that will eventually serve as the centralised facility for beekeepers and beekeeping operations in the country.
The upgrades on the Society’s headquarters in Belmont Estate will be financed through a US $16,000 grant that has been sourced from the Australian High Commission through the efforts of the Inter American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture (IICA) in conjunction with the Ministry of Agriculture.
National Specialist for IICA Craig Thomas told Observer yesterday that the organisation worked with the President of the Beekeepers Corporative Brent Georges in 2019 on the initial project proposal which was unsuccessful.
That request was approved last year when it was reviewed and resubmitted again.
“The project is valued at US $16,000 and will be valued over US $25,00 with in-kind contribution. It is basically to rehabilitate the central extracting facility for the Beekeepers Cooperative. A lot of beekeepers do not have an extraction facility and would have to go different places to access one, with this central facility all beekeepers will be able to use it at a low cost which go towards maintenance,” Thomas said.
The renovation will also include plumbing, electrical, and painting work on the building. Cleaning of the facility has already started in preparation for further renovations.