Government is hoping to hand over to 60-year-old independent Barbados a double heritage gift in time for its birthday celebration at month-end.
The Richard Stoute Amphitheatre at the National Botanical Gardens and the Newton Burial Ground are on course to be part of the 60 and 5 celebrations of being independent and becoming a republic.
Yesterday, Minister of Private and Public Investment Indar Weir said the amphitheatre should be handed over in another “week or so” to the National Cultural Foundation to start its concert preparations as the stage was already in place, the landscaping started and the covers going on.
“We are managing projects with the elements and therefore if it rains, that can set us back a bit. But all other things being equal, we should be able to proceed with having that ready for the Independence celebrations,” Weir told the Sunday Sun.
In relation to the Newton Burial Ground, the minister said he was keeping his fingers crossed as several measures were in place to make sure it could be delivered.
“I’m satisfied that the landscapers are doing all that they can to make it presentable for the opening ceremony. A lot of the construction work is still taking place and, of course, the arrangements with the construction [company] for the retainer wall and the parking facilities, and so on are still ongoing.
“Electrical work is still ongoing and I flagged that. We should be able to have this entire project ready to suit the opening ceremony. We are working towards that deadline with the architects, the engineers, the project managers,” Weir said.
In addition, he has added an additional layer of an oversight committee to make sure “they push and help us to reach our completion deadline”.
“So the opening ceremony will take place and we are making sure that we are doing everything possible to make sure that we can have it completed to suit the opening ceremony,” Weir said.
Meanwhile, the Waterford/ Codrington, St Michael area is taking shape as a heritage zone with the amphitheatre, the National Stadium, Tyrol Cot and CARIFESTA House.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, who visited the amphitheatre site on Thursday during a tour with World Bank president Ajay Banga, said afterwards the hope was to give the country the venues in time for the national celebrations and also add to the tourism experience.
At the time the bathrooms, the stage and the dome were in place.
“Barbados at 60 did not have any serious public infrastructure in spite of being a primary tourism destination. That can’t work.
“That is the same point the president of the World Bank was making with respect to the development of tourism in India. Some people want to come to see statues but other people may want to do other things and people want activities so it is not only about sun, sea and sand,” she said.
The infrastructural projects were as a result of yearly savings and that allowed the creative economy to become a central part of the tourism economy, the Prime Minister said.
“The creative economy becomes a central part of boosting the platform for Bajans, for those who can become global citizens and use here as a basis for their future. . . . The next major thing that we have to do for both here, as well as Bridgetown, is to build a multistorey car park below the Geriatric Hospital,” Mottley proposed.
On that note the hospital within the Waterford area will see phase two starting.
“You heard the talk about recycling old debt, repurposing old debt. As you know, we had a debt-for-nature swap. We had a debt-for-climate swap. We’re now doing a debt-for-social swap, where we buy back US$600 million of our debt and the savings will be US$150 million over a three- to four-year period,” Mottley said.
“We will spend that on the health care sector, some going to the Geriatric, some going to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, some going to other projects and some going to a cold chain facility at the airport.” ( AC)
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