A $4.8 million training facility will be the Barbados Youth Service’s (BYS) new permanent home in the near future.
Making this statement on Friday evening, Youth Minister Stephen Lashley outlined, “I am pleased to announce that the Government is actively considering the provision of resources at Paragon to construct a permanent home for the Barbados Youth Service in the not too distant future. This is an important development following the dislocation of the programme in 2005.”
Addressing the passing out parade for the September 2016 intake of BYS trainees at the Paragon, Christ Church base, he stated that for two years, such individuals could not benefit from this programme, “which for many is the only chance they have to positively redirect their lives.
“A permanent home will allow the Barbados Youth Service to meet the increasing demand for its services, which are consistently over-subscribed for the past seven years,” Lashley said, noting that intake figures have been constrained to 80 persons.
He revealed that with its new home, the service would be able to host two intakes per year and therefore cater to 240 persons annually. “There should be a time in the not to distant future where we could have as much as 500 trainees being a part of this programme,” he added.
Describing it as “second to none within the Caribbean region when it comes to social programming and provisioning”, he urged the trainees to use the opportunities being made available to them throughout the year-long course.
“The journey has only just begun. You owe it to yourself to be an excellent example of excellence to your family, friends, peers and others in the community in which you live. Once you have completed your training, you owe it to Barbados and yourself to transform at least one young person in your community who would not have had the opportunity of being a part of this programme,” he stressed. (JMB)
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