The government said last week that it had formed the Jackson Bay Development Committee.
Over the past few weeks, Jackson Bay has been in the news because residents of Layou, on (23 March) staged a protest action on the beach to voice their disapproval of a proposed pier, and on Sunday (27 March), held a protest march through the streets of Layou.
The Planning Department rejected the developer’s application for the development of the Jetty.
On Wednesday, in his weekly address, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said Finance Minister Camilo Gonsalves had spoken about the need to develop the communities of Buccament, Layou and Barrouallie due to the amount of tourism development happening on the West Coast.
“We approved last Wednesday the Chief Surveyor’s purchase of four parcels of land. He thinks there would be a value of about half a million dollars, just over half a million dollars. Therefore, we give the Chief Surveyor permission to make an offer to the people who own those parcels”.
“We want to do some things in the village for the people to make sure that when Sandals develops, the villagers will be able to reap some benefits”.
“In addition to the technical committee headed by Orande Brewster, we formed a political oversight committee. When I say political oversight, I mean a cabinet oversight committee”.
“Some people talk about just building a washroom. We intend to do better development so that the area can be a gathering place for the community, locals, and visitors”.
In reference to further development on the West Coast, Gonsalves stated that the Bank of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines wants to build a bank at Peter’s Hope.
“The housing settlement is there, and Black Sands will develop one way or another. We’re also building two schools in Barrouallie and improving police station facilities”.
Jackson Bay is one of the beaches in Layou located on St Vincent’s west coast.
