Residents of Roseau, Lauders Community say they are pleased with the completion of a 650-foot-long village road, noting that it has significantly enhanced access to and from the community.
Villagers, principals, staff and students of the surrounding schools joined Area Representative Saboto Caesar and other Cabinet members outside Vincyfresh’s headquarters for the official opening ceremony on Monday.
The Caribbean Development Bank (CBD), Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNFT), and the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines made the completion of the road possible.
Project Manager of the BNTF, Dunstan Johnson, noted that the BNTF’s projects continue to impact the lives of the poor, vulnerable, and marginalised.
Delivering the feature address, Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves, explained that the road was needed for years and plans for its construction commenced under the leadership of former Area Representative Selmon Walters.
Gonsalves said Abacus Inc. was responsible for the design of the road and Cyril Jack of Jack’s Construction Services, for its construction.
He noted that the 14-foot-wide Roseau, Lauders village road provides access to around 50 farmers and members of 10 households.
Meanwhile, Caesar, who is also Minister of Agriculture and Rural Transformation, stated that the completion of the road was, indeed, a great day and one that has brought great joy to him. Caesar expressed happiness at the completion of the project, for which Walters had laid the groundwork.
The minister explained that the road started with a policy to make farms more accessible, adding that it would also benefit residents.
He spoke of the challenges farmers and residents faced prior to the completion of the road, where their mobility was disrupted, especially, when it rained.
He said that “all those days are gone”.
The cost of the road, according to Caesar, was EC$643,000.
Mary Matthews, a resident living alongside the newly built road, said she has been living in that community since the 1990s and had long anticipated the completion of the road.
Matthews expressed happiness that the road has been completed. She thanked Caesar, the BNTF and Prime Minister Gonsalves for making the road a reality.
It is good to see that the government is capable of making a road.
It’s not the first. Ongoing work are being carried out on the North River Road bridge, Stony Ground. Lostpet, a number of road and river defence work are being carried out in various communities throughout SVG. You guys speaks as if nothing is happening, to prove me wrong, drive around and you’ll see what is taking place.
Observer the problem could be that the piecemeal construction of short disjointed roads is not effective in forming a system of connected routes. The road in this picture is quite limited, perhaps less than three miles. I know the area very well. The old donkey tract leads from Lauders to Bunchie then Tibbirew, Colonorie mountain, Mahorn, etc. In the old days these were quite productive areas where peasants produced nutmegs, breadfruit, ground provisions, and bananas.
The headwaters of the Tibbirew and the Colonarie rivers form the watershed the feeds the colonarie river. Hunting manicou, parrots, and gathering wild honey was done in this area by residents of Greggs, Lowmans, Diamonds, Chapmans, and neighboring communities. Fishing for crayfish, mullets and other small freshwater species was also common. Today the area beyond Roseau is mostly unreachable because the road ends at Roseau. This is an area with potentially development appeal for farming, recreation and tourism. But a system of roads is needed. In 2012 I left Higher Lowmans with the intention of reaching some property my family own at waterfall/Greggs via Roseau but had to turn back as the road ended abruptly.
Incidentally, Roseau is part of the former Lauders estate that The Mitchell administration purchased and made available to small farmers in its land reform program.
Vin I Vin
This had just about nothing to do with the government it was a gift from The Caribbean Development Bank (CBD) via their Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNFT), the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines simply took a hand in awarding the contract to a ULP supporter.
Didn’t the Taiwan ambassador give a check to the government for road rehabilitation and repairs before his tenure ended?