Bouton-St.Lucia gets LIME Landline and Internet

Bouton is virtually synonymous with isolation in St Lucia – the tiny community lying above Soufriere town only got connected to the national electricity grid 10 years ago, and until recently, Bouton Combined was a single large hall, which was also used as a community center, adult teaching facility and as an emergency hurricane shelter.

So this week, it was a big deal when LIME came to town, as the island’s leading telecommunications provider officially announced the introduction of landline and internet services in Bouton. The LIME team, including Country Manager Sean Auguste, made the presentation at Bouton Combined, which now caters to 87 students.

“This is a demonstration of our commitment to assist with the development, not just of Bouton, but of all districts and communities around the island,” said Sean. “Many of us take our landline for granted and we know we can go online anytime, but LIME has never lost sight of the fact that many people in St Lucia are still not as fortunate.”

The LIME technical team had been working for some months with St Clair Associates, to get services to the community and provide facilities like new lunch tables for the school. The school also got four new Lenovo netbooks from LIME, and residents who sign up for service this month get free installation and a month free service.

Principal Marian Southwell spoke to the possibilities that are now open to the people of Bouton. “I pursued my degree via distance learning,” she said, “and it was amazing to see that I had an entire library at my fingertips: I hope the children of Bouton especially take full advantage of having Internet service available to them, thanks to LIME.

“As a school, LIME has given Bouton Combined the impetus to aspire to greater heights,” she continued, “as this facility will definitely help us in achieving our school’s goal at the Common Entrance exam, and that is surpassing the national mean and producing the top student in the island.” The school was the first account activated in Bouton.

The children of Bouton will also be participating in a project in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Gros Islet, as part of which Bouton Combined students will be having exchanges with their counterparts from around the world, including pupils in Europe. LIME is working to open up new services to mo more new areas in the coming months.