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Minister of Tourism, Carlos James speaking during the Budget Debate on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025.
Minister of Tourism, Carlos James speaking during the Budget Debate on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines will get its first zipline, which a private operator will install at Diamond.

Minister of Tourism Carlos James made the announcement during the Budget Debate in Parliament on Wednesday but did not give any timeframe for its operationalisation.

“I share this now. But there is already advanced work in the planning phases, with a contractor and an operator, private operator, to facilitate the installation of S. Vincent’s first zipline here in this country,” James said.

James, who is MP for North Leeward, made the announcement as he spoke of “some of the things we’ll be doing using modern technology and immersive experiences” at some of the nation’s tourism sites.

He said there will be a build-out of new sites, including the petroglyph park at Argyle, an eco-park at Richmond and a pirate-theme park at a site on the leeward side of St. Vincent.

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This was the second consecutive budget debate in which James spoke about a pirate-theme park.

During the debate of Budget 2024 in January of that year, James had said that in 2024 his ministry would “explore and conceptualise designs for a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed Park at Wallilabou”.

That announcement had come more than 20 years after the Pirates of the Caribbean movie was filmed there and even as all the parts of the set that were on public property have long disappeared, even as those on private property remain largely intact.

He told Parliament this week that a community tourism village will be established “on the community side of the Buccament Bay”.

James said his ministry hopes that visitors, including guests at Sandals Resort at Buccament Bay would visit the community village and “be a part of the local community, the gastronomy, the music, the entertainment, the culture, as we host regular events, including a nightly Friday fish fest that is going to accommodate hundreds of people in that area”.

James spoke about the community village even as shops were built on the village side of Buccament Bay to be used by people who were ordered to stop plying their trade on the beach have not been handed over to operators about two years after they were built and almost a year after Sandals Resort opened.

He said that this year, his ministry would construct a recreational park at Brighton Bay, install public facilities at Jackson Bay and Troumaca Bay, build a nature spa at Dark View Falls and complete the final phase of the reconstruction of the Villa Boardwalk.

“Two things on that point. The Villa boardwalk, … up to maybe 80% of is completed but the coastal erosion we saw on the further end, behind the Aquatic Club, … undermined the structural integrity of the area [and] required further assessments and specialist contractors who are versed in coastal defences and construction to facilitate the additional work that is taking place.”

James told Parliament that a contract had been signed and work had begun.

“The site has been secured by the contractor, and they have begun to work on that facility.”

Meanwhile, the repair of Fort Charlotte, which has been closed for years, will continue this year.

James said the fort was being restored under a World Bank-funded project which had been subsumed under the Unleashing the Blue Economy Project.

“The nature of the work is not just sand and mortar and open the fort. What they’re doing there is carefully restoring the fort,” he said.

“In fact, there are a lot of limestone and different types of stones there. Some of the stones there, they had to do testing and studies. They found that some of them even came all the way from Scotland. And a lot of research went into how the restorative work will take place, and the work is ongoing.”

He said the repair work is “meticulous and labour-intensive, … and time-consuming. … And the nature of the work requires the contractor to be very intricate in the restorative work.

“But I can assure you, we will continue work on that project. I, too, would like to see its completion in quick time, but I do appreciate the nature of the work that the contract has to undertake.”

He said that when the rehabilitation of Fort Charlotte is complete, “we will see a lot of new technology and innovation, immersive experiences and cultural experiences at the fort.

“Not just a site where you go and look around and look at the views of Port Kingstown, but it will be a site that will captivate the minds and hearts and imaginations of not just visitors but our Vincentian people.”

James said his ministry intends to strengthen the linkages with other sectors in adventure and wellness tourism, including new glamping sites at Richmond.

Parliament is expected to conclude the debate on the EC$1.85 billion budget for 2025 later on Friday.

6 replies on “Private operator to install zipline at Diamond”

  1. Urlan Alexander says:

    Econ Park at Richmond? This is a boldface stealing of Patel Matthews idea. Patel spoke of establishing a Recreatoinal Park at Richmond with Cabanas and a ganja free zone with Information Center etc. Carlos has no ideas of.his own.
    He never come up with amy program or initiative to bring anything progressive to NL. Waste if time!

  2. Phoney political rhetoric, all of it, based mainly on old promises never fulfilled.

    Yes, thankfully the Sandals resort at Buccament is off to a good start and is giving meaningful employment to hundreds of our people, many or most of whom would otherwise be unemployed, underemployed or would have to migrate overseas to earn a living.

    But most of the jobs are low end and will eventually become seasonal while most of the resort’s profits will keep being exported to Jamaica.

    More important still, our mainland tourist resources are very limited due to our lack of miles of pristine white sand beaches fronting shallow inshore waters and will soon be saturated by the same low end service jobs.

    Our economic future, like our post-plantation agricultural past, is not at all promising.

  3. Carl Sylvester Burke says:

    On one of my visit to St Vincent, I went up to the top of Mount St Andrew. The climb would not be possible for some, especially older tourists. I could not believe how beautiful the view of our Blessed Isle was. It was comparable only to the panoramic view from La Soufriere. The government should look into constructing a cable car system that would take natives and visitor from Vermont to the top to appreciate our lovely island. Cable car systems throughout the world are a profitable investment towards the tourism industry.

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