Preparatory work for the Bridgetown Transformation Project, part of Government’s plans to redevelop The City, will get underway come Monday.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley rolled out details of the project in an hour-long address to the country last night, as she urged Barbadians to brace for disruptions while promising that efforts would be made to cushion the impact on vendors and others operating in the area.
The first phase of the project will entail the construction of the Golden Square Freedom Park and the completion of the Fairchild Street Market Village. Mottley said 100 new vending stalls will be constructed at the market.
“…Because the conditions under which we have made our vendors live for the last two decades there are nothing short of woeful. And it is this Government’s intention not only to make them better, but to make that location an area where all Barbadians and visitors will want to congregrate rather than have us having to see them operate in the way in which they have,” she said.
In addition to improvements already underway at Temple Yard which has benefitted from the installation of water and electricity, Mottley also detailed plans to establish Golden Square Freedom Park, which she described as “a monument to our freedom and democracy”.
The Bridgetown Transformation Project, which is being executed by the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc. (BTII), will see Vision Development Inc. and C.O. Williams leading the construction that is expected to begin with the demolition of the former National Insurance building, the nearby Barbados Fire Service building in Probyn Street and temporary markets.
Mottley appealed for public cooperation even as she assured vendors they would not be pushed aside.
She said the Government has insisted that the BTII engage liaison persons to work with the vendors during the periods of dislocation and discomfort.
“We can mitigate the losses, but we can’t move forward without inconvenience,” the Prime Minister said.
Meanwhile, the way is being cleared for other major investments in The City, including the Pier Head and Carlisle House Project expected to come on stream this year.
Mottley also reiterated that promised hotel expansion would come to fruition. These include the Royalton project at Discovery Bay that will add 230 rooms to the island’s room stock. That will start construction by May, once the regulatory processes are completed.
A new 171-room hotel, Indigo, will also be built on the old Caribbee site and that is also in the final regulatory stages, as is the case with Port Ferdinand which will be expanded to include 74 hotel rooms.
The Sandals Royal expansion will add a further 66 rooms; and the Hyatt project, which is intended to add just under 400 rooms and 40 suites, is in the last stages of public communication and town hall meetings.
Additionally, Chefette Restaurants will be building a new icecream manufacturing plant and a meat packaging plant in Lears.
“I am due to the ground breaking for that within a matter of weeks,” Mottley said.
Additionally, the runway at the Grantley Adams International Airport will be repaved at a cost of US$49 million, which the Prime Minister said was “absolutely critical for our airport”.
