City project still on

A lagging drainage project at Chapman Lane, St Michael, which, in recent times has been a bone of contention for residents, has not been abandoned by the Government.

In fact, Minister of Transport, Works and Water Resources, Ian Gooding-Edghill said that the creation of a retention pond as well as the deepening and widening of a canal through the inner city community would be completed “in the shortest possible time”.

While residents were singing the praises of the Government months ago when the project, which was intended to prevent flooding first began, their patience ran thin two weeks ago when a burst main in the area filled the canal with dirty water, causing an awful stench.

Residents told Barbados TODAY that although no rain was falling, the stagnant water was not subsiding and instead, was harbouring mosquitoes and all kinds of vermin. To move from one side of the community to another, persons were forced to walk on thin makeshift planks over the murky water.

During Thursday evening’s press conference after surveying the damage from a freak storm that unfolded the night before, Prime Minister Mia Mottley underscored the importance of the project in avoiding major flooding in the Bridgetown area.

“That is our greatest fear in Bridgetown always, and it is for that reason that this government has taken the time to ensure that… for the first time in decades, all three pumps at the pump house at Princess Alice are in fact working. We have also ensured that we put in pumps at the Bayland and in Speightstown,” declared Mottley.

“Within three months of being in office, we had to deal with the first threat of a storm and of course we had Tropical Storm Kirk, which flooded out Emmerton, Chapman Lane and out that side.

“We are not where we want to be, but we are getting there and I hope and have every confidence that we will continue the work. There also is the work for relocation of those houses that are at the border of the canal and once we move them, we are going to put a play park there and landscaping to make sure that nobody goes back and is put at serious risk in that particular area,” Mottley added.

When asked about the work, Minister Gooding Edghill revealed: “We’ve given a clear mandate to the contractors to work around-the-clock to expedite the works in the shortest possible time.”

In addition, he explained that the Government’s infrastructural project in Holetown under the Drainage Division, that includes the regular cleaning of outfalls, the installation of footpaths and other drainage infrastructure, has been holding up well.

“There are no major breaks in our infrastructure. Again in the Holetown area, there has been no breakage whatsoever and we continue to clean the outfalls on a regular basis and it has continued to maintain,” Minister Gooding-Edghill confirmed. (KS)