INTERVIEW: EAST PORT OF SPAIN DEVELOPMENT COMPANY
SERVING THE
COMMUNITY Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Deborah Thomas-Austin, Managing Director at the East Port of Spain Development Company, about tackling regional disparities, meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and protecting the cultural heritage and people of East Port of Spain. By Tasha Nuthall The East Port of Spain Development Company (EPOS) is a government-owned company seeking to improve the economic, social, and physical environments of the eastern region of Trinidad and Tobago’s capital city, Port of Spain. Incorporated as a state enterprise in 2005, EPOS focuses on identifying the social and economic needs of local communities and implementing physical infrastructure and other development projects that will help overcome them. EPOS has since organized and implemented several programs that have a particular focus on sustainability, including access to proper sanitation, maintaining the safety of women in public spaces, urban agriculture? and preserving East Port of Spain’s cultural heritage. REGIONAL DISPARITIES Understanding the topography and cultural geography of the local metropolitan area is key to EPOS’s development strategy. “East Port of Spain is the cultural capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the home of the steel band, which is our national instrument,” explains Deborah Thomas-Austin, Managing Director of the East Port of Spain Develop38 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
ment Company. “Before we began our work, however, the first thing we needed to do was to understand the key issues and concerns underpinning the local community, including any assets, challenges, or changes that people want to see made. By identifying these issues, we were able to translate them into comprehensive and integrated development plans and socio-economic programs that have since benefitted the residents of East Port of Spain.” “When comparing East Port of Spain with the other municipal areas and regions of Trinidad and Tobago, we noticed how issues such as high levels of crime and unemployment, and low levels of income, affect the
