By LETRE SWEETING
lsweeting@tribunemedia.net
CONSTRUCTION has started on the new straw market at Fort Charlotte, with the redevelopment of Fort Fincastle Straw Market also being prepared in time for the country’s 50th independence celebrations this year.
South Beach MP Bacchus Rolle, parliamentary secretary for Public Works and Utilities, in his contribution to the parliamentary debate on The Fiscal Strategy Report 2022 in the House of Assembly on Monday afternoon, spoke about the progress made for several initiatives affecting infrastructure for the development of the family islands and New Providence.
“Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to be able to announce that we have begun already the actual construction of a new straw market at Fort Charlotte, which will be supplementary to the main straw market on Bay Street,” he said.
“It will be one of the satellite straw markets (for) which we already have facilities in Paradise Island, Fort Fincastle and, of course, on Cable Beach,” Mr Rolle said.
“At Fort Fincastle, a redevelopment of this straw market is a part of the upgrade in the Fort Fincastle area in time for the 50th anniversary celebrations,” he said.
As visitor arrivals to The Bahamas exceeded seven million last year and are expected to be even higher this year, according to Chester Cooper, Minister of Tourism, Aviation and Investments last week, Mr Rolle added: “This is in keeping with the government’s (plan) for visitor arrivals to New Providence, which will provide a direct impact to the vendors and straw business persons and, of course, a livelihood for straw vendors.”
Mr Rolle also mentioned plans that the Water and Sewerage Corporation has to better “supply of safe, reliable and continuous water” to the Family Islands, “namely those in Abaco and Eleuthera” as well as projects planned for New Providence.
“From a sewerage standpoint, the Water and Sewerage Corporation is nearing conclusion of a PPP agreement in the range of $1.8m to complete works at Malcolm Park Wastewater Treatment Facility,” Mr Rolle said.
“The Water and Sewerage Corporation is in very active discussions for a PPP (public private partnership) agreement in the range of $8m to complete the work of a longstanding issue to the Gladstone Road Wastewater Treatment Facility,” he said.
Mr Rolle also spoke about the ministry’s plans for Exuma, Cat Island and South Eleuthera.
A $60m road project is planned in Exuma and included is the provision for waterways in Baraterre, George Town and Little Exuma.
Additionally, the ministry is about to enter into a PPP for the development of roads in Cat Island and South Eleuthera.
The government capital expenditure programme has allocated in the amount of $121.4m to the Ministry of Works and Utilities and its entities in pursuance of providing sustainability and adequate level of infrastructure for the development of the Bahamian people, wherever they reside throughout this Bahamas, Mr Rolle said.
He said the Davis Administration “met a dire situation with respect to public infrastructure” when they came into power in 2021, and so the $121.4m in funds is then allocated for “items ranging from water infrastructure, maintenance of public buildings, roads, bridges, drains, beautification and maintenance of public spaces”.
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