Fish markets in store for upgrades

Major upgrades and renovations are coming to fish markets across the island.

Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Kirk Humphrey revealed that almost $4 million would be spent in repairing the jetties in Oistins and Bridgetown.

Additionally, he said, the slipway at Conset Bay in St John would be repaired while others would be built at Pile Bay, the Bridgetown Market and the Bridgetown Port.

During debate in Parliament on the Appropriation (Amendment) Bill 2020, Humphrey said fisherfolk had voiced their concerns about dilapidated jetties, broken ice machines and the absence of fenders to help protect their boats.

He said they had also called for slipways to be constructed at the island’s fish markets.

The Minister said the repairs to the jetty in Oistins would begin before the end of the year.

“I have a quotation for Oistins, and the Oistins jetty is going to cost the people of Barbados $1.3 million. We had in our Estimates, money to do some other things but we are moving that money towards doing the jetty.

“The fact that we allowed the fisherfolk to fish during COVID, we allowed the markets to be open during COVID, is a reflection of the principled nature of the Government. These are principled decisions and therefore we are moving those funds to the jetty because it is important for us to allow fishing to continue in Barbados,” Humphrey maintained.

“We cannot be party to the destruction of one of the oldest practices and professions in this country and in the world.”

He said while building a slipway at the Berinda Cox Fish Market in Oistins would prove to be difficult, it would be done.

Humphrey further disclosed that almost $3 million would be spent on fixing the several jetties in the capital.

“In Bridgetown, we have a quote to do the four or five jetties for $2.6 million. The reason we had to spend all of this is because nothing was really spent before…. We are basically trying to save the life of what is happening in Bridgetown,” he said.

The Minister described the planned work as “transformative”, pointing to the fact that it was being done in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He gave the assurance that by the end of the Government’s first term in office, all the major concerns of fisherfolk would have been addressed. (RB)