The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

AS redevelopment efforts at Potter’s Cay Dock shift into high gear, concerns are mounting over the scope of the Department of Agriculture’s involvement in the multi-million dollar project, aimed at enhancing the multi-faceted site.

Transport and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin made a point to isolate the span of the Port Department’s efforts at the site, while stressing that concerns associated with stalls and vendors operating at Potter’s Cay come under the purview of the Department of Agriculture.

She spoke during a media tour of Potter’s Cay Dock yesterday.

Last November, the three-phased redevelopment plan was announced as a joint effort between the Ministries of Works, Agriculture and Transport and Aviation.

Presently, efforts underway at Potter’s Cay will only address features detailed as a part of the phases one and two of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation’s Potter’s Cay Dock Redevelopment Project.

Those two phases call for the removal and relocation of trees on the southern foreshore to create a parking area, which would extend eastward to Williams Street, the extension of the Fish and Farm store by 150 feet to accommodate mail boat services and a new bathroom area with a security presence as a part of phase one.

Additionally, phase two is expected to see the development of security checkpoints at the entrance and exit of the entire facility, kerbs erected around the perimeter of the dock as a safety measure to prevent potential accidents.

The phases are being carried out simultaneously and are expected to be completed in May.

Meanwhile, there has been no clarification on how the Department of Agriculture plans to manage its obligations at the site.

Sources within the Port Department have expressed concern with the lack of action on the part of the Department of Agriculture, admitting that there is some frustration with the lack of clear directives on what it intends to do with the stalls and vendors at Potter’s Cay.

Some vendors have already come forward to question the role they play in the redevelopment scheme.

One long-time vendor said while the efforts of the Port Department are commendable, there remains uncertainty over how its efforts would affect vendors.

For years, the social hub of Potter’s Cay has been 25 and more stalls operating at the site. With adjustments being made to causeways, parking and facilities scores of vendors are now asking if this multi-million dollar scheme could prove counterintuitive.

During yesterday’s tour of Potter’s Cay several questions were put to Mrs Hanna Martin about stall updates, vendor consultation and the future working environment persons operating at the dock could expect once pending updates are completed.

She maintained that those were questions that could only be addressed by the Department of Agriculture.

Agriculture Minister V Alfred Gray could not be reached for comment. Calls placed to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Marine Resources and Local Government, Rena Glinton went unanswered.

Meanwhile, Mrs Hanna Martin told reporters that Ministry of Transport and Aviation’s mandate has long been to offer a more “rational operational environment” at Potter’s Cay Dock.

Mrs Hanna Martin told The Tribune that the “overall nature” of the area has to be transformed to show the “enhanced scale of operation” envisioned for the site.

“Potter’s Cay is a cultural and commercial hub in New Providence - we want to equip this area with a freight building, a passenger terminal with amenities; plans are to redirect traffic, an enhanced pedestrian experience, parking, landscaping and for the first time, permanent kerbing,” she said.

Mrs Hanna Martin added: “The other side of this effort is security, safety measures, improved lighting and CCTV. We will equip this area with the proper infrastructure to make sure that it runs the way it is supposed to.”