Pictured above is??the walkway??at Calmaro House in Holetown before construction began.

Below is a view of the construction work under way.

Barbadians, tourists, expatriates and business owners in the north of the island will soon join their south coast counterparts in enjoying improved beach access as well as a more aesthetically-pleasing window to the sea, as the Holetown Beach Improvement Project continues in earnest.

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Word of this has come from Project Manager with the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU), Antonio Rowe, who said the Bds $6.9 million project was well under way and on target.

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???The Holetown project is progressing quite well. It is envisioned that concrete will be poured in another two weeks or so. We are currently?? working with business establishments to the north (for example, Villa on the Beach, to The Beach House (formerly Baku) with a view to commencing work on that?? section during this month,??? he said.

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The project, which is part of Government???s seven???year, Bds $48.4 million Coastal Infrastructure Programme, spans the 500 metre stretch of shoreline, from Las Palmas in the south up to the former Chefette site and the northern section, from Chefette to Villas on the Beach.

In giving some background to the venture, Director of the CZMU,??Dr. Leo Brewster,??said engineering work was originally scheduled to start in January, but was postponed in light of the fact that this coincided with the start of the winter season.

 

???It is a much shorter time frame so we are anticipating that it (the project) should take approximately eight months to complete. So having started toward the tail-end of the last winter season, it is anticipated that we will finish well before the beginning of the new one,??? he opined.

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Dr. Brewster, who admitted to ???making excellent progress since April??? said the trend should continue, barring the onset of bad weather during the summer.

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???The Holetown Project is going to be similar to the Rockley Project, in that it is supposed to provide continuous lateral access along the coastline for the public to enjoy. It is also going to include the creation of much more substantial public beach in the area of the Chefette site, where the existing beach wall was before,??? he explained.

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The Coastal Zone head stressed that the walkway would also be equipped with ramps to facilitate wheelchair access to the beach.?? All existing accesses from properties will be maintained to allowing direct access unto the walkway from these establishments.

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In terms of design, Dr. Brewster said ???significant modifications??? were made during the process to address concerns raised by stakeholders to the north, specifically with regard to the height of the walkway.

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The Coastal Infrastructure Programme, which is jointly???funded by Government and the Inter-American Development Bank, is ongoing, and seeks primarily to foster shoreline stabilisation and erosion control; restore coastal habitats; improve public coastal access and provide institutional strengthening for coastal management.

It consists of six engineering projects ??? four involving beach improvement at the Crane, St. Philip, Holetown; St. James; and Rockley to Coconut Court and Welches in Christ Church, as well as the Holetown Lagoon Water Quality Improvement Project and the Tent Bay Boat Access Improvement Project.????

cgaskin@barbados.gov.bb

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