Fort Charlotte remains closed even with bumper cruise season ahead  

Fort Charlotte, one of the nation’s tourist attractions is likely to remain for yet another cruise tourism season.

The fort, which was commissioned in 1806, has been closed for more than a year for restorative work.

It remains closed even as the country is forecast to receive a record number of cruise ship calls for a third consecutive year.

Responding to a question about the fort, Minister of Tourism Carlos James noted that the restoration is being done under a World Bank project.

“The nature of the work is not just basic construction and masonry,” James told a press conference in Kingstown on Wednesday.

“It’s a lot of work in preserving the fort in its existing and traditional layout, and a lot of the work that is done there is really specialist work.”

The tourism minister said he was yet to get the report on “the status of how we can accommodate visitors there this season, but I’m hoping that we can have some significant work done over the next few weeks if at all it’s possible to accommodate persons there.

“But bear in mind that the work that is being done there is one that is very complex and requires a level of specialist skill to have the work preserved and have the fort preserved in the way in which it was traditionally built,” he said.

On Aug. 22, Daniel Cummings, MP for West Kingstown, where the fort is located, asked in Parliament about progress on its repairs

Cummings asked Minister of Works, Montgomery Daniel to give an update on the progress or lack thereof on the construction of the bridge leading to Fort Charlotte, as well as the repairs/restoration work at Fort Charlotte, and a time for opening of both.

Daniel said the rehabilitation of the Fort Charlotte Bridge was a project included in the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure in 2022.

He said the project included the strengthening of the failing historic fort bridge and the construction of the strengthening measures.

He said that in 2022 an international firm operating out of Barbados was engaged in the designs for the strengthening and restoration of the fort bridge and to make recommendations for the construction works.

Daniel said this design was completed and the required construction recommendations were made by year-end.

“Almost in parallel with this work, the Ministry of Urban Development commenced the rehabilitation of Fort Charlotte project, which focused on the rehabilitation of the very popular tourism site, which was built by the British in the late 1700s and later discontinued used in 1873 when the British withdrew from this island,” he said.

Daniel said construction on the project commenced in September 2023 and was expected to be completed in June 2024.

He said the Fort Charlotte project and the reconstruction of the Fort Charlotte Bridge could not be done at the same time, due to logistical constraints.

“A decision was taken to proceed to completion of the rehabilitation of the Fort Charlotte project and to suspend the construction of the Fort Bridge project until 2025.”

The works minister told Parliament that efforts were being made to secure adequate financing for the construction of the Fort Bridge project in 2025.

“On the completion of the project works for the Fort Bridge project, this bridge will be summarily reopened for use to the general public, including the residents of Edinboro, who reside above the bridge.

“Following the completion of the rehabilitation of the Fort Charlotte project in 2024, a determination will be made on the time for the reopening of that project by the Ministry of Tourism.”

However, Cummings pointed out that when he asked about the project in December 2023, Daniel said that the work on Fort Charlotte was complete.

He said the minister had said that construction of the bridge would have begun in May this year.

“I hear you now say that a decision has been taken to start construction of the bridge in 2025. I hear you also to say that funding is being sought. Funding has been allocated many years ago, including in the current budget,” the opposition lawmakers said.

“Does this give the people of West Kingstown, any assurance that the government is serious about building this bridge, if the construction period has been shifted? A decision, you say, has been taken to start in 2025 is there a good reason for that, after the people have been waiting for so many years and you, just having said that the work at Charlotte is almost complete, why wait until 2025?” Cummings said.

Daniel, responding to Cummings’ questions, told Parliament that the government is serious about the fort project.

He, however, said the international construction firm was responsible not only for identifying the work to be done but also to guide the government as to the contractor that could do the work.

“As I understand it, these works are not just mixing mortar and paste mortar onto a building. It requires much more than that, and therefore there are monies within the estimates to have the work done,” Daniel said.

“But the latest assessment would have shown that that sums of monies are not sufficient, and hence we require extra funding to have the work done. This is where we are,” he said.