On Monday evening, the St. Vincent government inked a $20 million agreement with Canadian company Aecon, paving the path for material dredging south of Argyle to begin. The materials will be utilized to fill the base of the island’s modern port in Kingstown, while funds received will go towards various projects.
On Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves told the St. Vincent Times that Aecon will pay $5 million upon signing, $5 million next week, and $10 million when the dredging is completed.
Gonsalves said the bathymetric study was finished in an interview with the Agency for Public Information (API) on Monday morning.
A bathymetric survey or study measures the depth of a body of water as well as maps the underwater features of the body. Multiple methods can be used for bathymetric surveys, including multi-beam and single-beam surveys, ADCPs, sub-bottom profilers, and the Ecomapper autonomous underwater vehicle.
Gonsalves stated that some of the funds from the $20 Million will be set aside for eventualities, while others will be used for projects in different locations across the country, mostly aiding the fishing industry.
“I want to do some work for the fishermen even though their livelihoods are not going to be so seriously affected. That is for those at Calliaqua and Shipping Bay to provide them with some support. At Shipping Bay, I want to do something neat where the fishermen can pull up their boats and so forth. We could also spend some money to complete the fixing up at Lowman’s Bay, where the fishermen have moved the bulk of them from the Rose Place area”.
Gonsalves stated that the government intends to look into further developing Brighton Beach.
“I want to do some things down at Brighton with some of the resources because there’s a parcel of land I think we should buy down there and do a nice boardwalk close to the beach, of course. There are also bits and pieces of roads that could be fixed and some other small projects here and there”.
Turning to those who were concerned about the environment, Gonsalves said:
“I always make this point: people who may shout as environmental advocates are not necessarily environmental scientists. Advocacy is one thing, and science is another. Advocacy should reasonably be connected to science, but often advocacy is not connected to science. It is connected to other agendas, but I am always interested in objective facts”.
Aecon Group Inc. said in April 2022 that it had received a $170 million contract from the government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to build a modernized cargo port.
The primary scope of work includes designing and building a cargo port and relocating a sewer outfall line, as well as road upgrades and strengthening within the port catchment area in Kingstown.
Additional scope includes work on the terminal area of approximately 6.5 hectares on seaward reclaimed land, a container storage yard, and break-bulk vehicle storage and maintenance areas. Terminal buildings will include administration and customs, workshops, warehouses, and a container freight station.
The project is being financed by the Caribbean Development Bank, The United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Fund and the Government of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The construction contract will be supervised by Sellhorn Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH (Germany).
