A Member of Parliament of one of the St George constituencies has hopes of the rural parish becoming a hub for business activity in Barbados, and she is holding the government to its promise to create spaces for entrepreneurs to operate there.
St George North MP Toni Moore spoke about her expectations for the area as Rubis Caribbean officially reopened a refurbished service station at Market Hill, St George on Tuesday morning.
She said that and other investments in the area were a good sign for both small and large businesses in the parish.
“Whether it’s the smaller business like those who vend on the side of our streets, whether it is restaurants, we have Rezult [Auto Shop] that has been here for some time, Mark’s Auto Spares, the minimart . . . [and] medical facilities. What we hope to see more of is that this community, the Market Hill community in St George North, could be witnessing expansion that would see St George not only being the centre of this country but being an expanded central hub . . . of business activity,” Moore said.
She recalled that three years ago, during the period that she was campaigning to represent the constituency for the first time, Acting Minister of Small Business Dwight Sutherland indicated that the government planned to deliver to the people of St George North. and particularly Market Hill, some vending stations “where small business people could ply their trade in a way that was safe, and in a way that would attract and accommodate customers”.
“And that is still something that is envisaged for this area along with the Lower Estate area and along with the Glebe; there is some expansion that is contemplated there.
“The kind of expansion that we envision is the kind of expansion that will see you not having to travel to Bridgetown, but you’ll be able to pick up what you want from Rubis here, from the minimart across the road, from the vendors who are offering it. Not that we want you to be so narrow in your thinking that you don’t branch out but that the conveniences that make life comfortable are conveniences that you can access in your community,” Moore added.
She praised Rubis for its significant investment in the community, reading it as a sign of strong confidence in the local market.
“When we see business not only opening but expanding and improving on current facilities, what is that a signal of? It’s a signal of tremendous confidence. Tremendous confidence not in the business itself although that is important, but tremendous confidence in the country as a whole. So today we salute Rubis in a big way for demonstrating that confidence in this country, in this country on and off the unbeaten track. I also want to say thank you for doing it for this community in St George,” she said.
Addressing the reopening ceremony, CEO of Rubis West Indies Limited Mauricio Nicholls said the company had invested just over $4 million for the raze and rebuild of the service station.
“I think this demonstrates the commitment to the Bajan public [and] the country Barbados, to offer a clean, safe, efficient fueling facility for all those customers that buy our Rubis fuel.
“That commitment is not just along very high-traffic locations, that commitment is across the entire island. We have places like Market Hill today and Bellplaine [St Andrew] that offer a convenient way to buy fuel from areas that are off the beaten path, a little more remote, a little more rural. We are happy to offer those facilities in these more distant communities,” he said.
The refurbished Market Hill location is the second of three service station upgrades planned by Rubis in this current phase, with the service station in Eagle Hall, St Michael being finished a few months ago and the Wildey, St Michael station approaching completion.
Nicholls said the total investment in improving those three stations was $15 million, and the company has seen “substantial growth in the fuel volumes and convenience store sales in other facilities which we have redone”.
The Rubis CEO said he hoped the upgraded facility in Market Hill would attract other businesses to the area to capitalise on the new aesthetic.
(SB)
