The Ministry of Transport and Works is set to begin up to 20 road repair projects between January and June this year.
This was revealed by Barbados Labour Party (BLP) candidate for St Michael South East, Santia Bradshaw, who said major works are already underway across the island, including the $250 million Scotland District road project.
“We have plans for Christ Church because Lodge Road, which has been a bugbear for the people of this constituency, is on the order to be done. We have 20 roads in January to June that we are starting,” Bradshaw declared while speaking at the BLP’s rally in Oistins, Christ Church on Tuesday night.
Bradshaw revealed that 15 roads have been completed in the Scotland District so far, with another 15 projects underway and 30 more in the design stages.
She disclosed that soil stabilisation work in White Hill has also been completed.
“Many of you may not see them because they are off-route, but we wanted to make sure we built up our rural communities so that people who were neglected felt as though we were paying attention to them,” she said.
“We’ve got 15 projects ongoing in the Scotland District and another 30 projects where we have been working over the last couple of years to complete designs so that we can bring relief to the people in those communities.”
The CAF‑funded road rehabilitation programme (Corporación Andina de Fomento / Development Bank of Latin America) is worth roughly BDS $100 million (about US$50 million).
Bradshaw listed areas that have benefited from these works: “We borrowed US$50 million. That $50 million has built out roads from Yorkshire in St Philip to Prior Park in St James, to right here in Christ Church in Gibbons Terrace. We’ve also been working on roads in Cane Garden and Shop Hill.”
Acknowledging that there had been disruption caused by roadworks, Bradshaw said it was necessary for progress.
“There may have been disruption, and there continues to be disruption, but Barbados, you must understand there is no country in the world where you can get progress without disruption.”
“And if we have to disrupt in order to make sure that utilities go in, if we have to disrupt to replace mains, if we have to disrupt to bring relief to the good people of this country, we will continue to do it,” Bradshaw maintained.
She also highlighted that it was through debt restructuring and global financing that the BLP administration was able to execute these projects after taking office over seven years ago.
“I want to tell you tonight that when we came to office seven years ago, despite the financial crisis we found ourselves in, this Barbados Labour Party made sure that while restructuring the debt, we also went globally to secure financing to start road infrastructure in this country and to restart bridge projects that had been neglected,” she said.
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