Road Bay has taken on a new look with the construction and commissioning of the recently-completed pier to facilitate the offloading of small cargo vessels, mainly those plying between Anguilla and St. Martin. With the provision of this facility, cargo-handling operations have ceased at Blowing Point Port which is now reserved for a passenger service.

L-R: Hon. Kenneth Harrigan, Mrs. George and Governor Andrew George

The pier, built alongside the existing one for larger cargo vessels, is lower in order to accommodate the smaller boats. It is 150 feet long with a t-head of 40x40 feet and was constructed by Edghill & Associates, a Barbados firm which has done work in Anguilla previously. A formal handing over ceremony was held on Sunday, December 3. The ribbon was cut by Minister of Infrastructure, Kenneth Harrigan and Governor and Mrs. Andrew George.

Ceremonial Handing over of new Cargo pier at Sandy Ground

Mr. Harrigan said that Richard Edghill and his son Jamie, in particular, had done a great job and he also praised David Lashley & Partners of Barbados for the design drawings. He noted that the new pier was part of a massive seaport development project which included the current replacing of two piers at Blowing Point and the building of a third for services only; and the eventual construction of a cargo pier and deep water harbour at Corito on the south coast of the island. This cargo pier means that Road Bay Port will later serve as an entry point for small tourist ships and pleasure yachts only with supporting tourism facilities and services.

He was pleased that cargo operations had ceased at Blowing Point and that no one was injured or killed there as passengers walked between big trucks and piles of cargo. “At Blowing Point, we will also be looking at further improvements to the ferry terminal,” he reported. “We are working with the Caribbean Development Bank to create a master plan to determine how best to develop the port. We will be working with landowners in the area to make Blowing Point a first class port of entry.”

The Minister was grateful to staff members in his Ministry and the Port Development Board for their work so far.

Ceremonial Handing over of new Cargo pier at Sandy Ground

Ken Banks, former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry and Chairman of the Sub-committee responsible for the building of the piers, said the cost of the new pier at Road Bay, on which construction work began in July this year, amounted to US$800,000. A further US$400,000 was being spent on repairing the piles and other sections of the adjacent main cargo pier. This along with other costs brought the figure to about 1.6 million US dollars.

The current pier construction work at Blowing Point originally estimated at 3.568 million US dollars has now been increased to 5 million US dollars as a result of changes to the plans. Banks noted that the money for the work at Road Bay and Blowing Point was provided by the Anguilla Government with assistance from local bank loans. He also spoke of the planned construction of a cargo pier at Corito, estimated to cost one million Eastern Caribbean dollars.

Albert Lake, Dizzie Brooks, Pat Fleming and Thomas Bryan

Richard Edghill said he was grateful to the Government and people of Anguilla for giving him the opportunity to build the piers and was proud that his son Jamie was mainly responsible for building the pier at Road Bay. He was also grateful for the support and cooperation of a number of persons who assisted him in the course of his work. He recalled with pleasure having financed and built the Cove Pier and was given the contracts to build the Island Harbour jetty, the Sandy Ground Road, another road and earlier the Sombero Lighthouse.

“I have worked in twelve islands outside Barbados and I always look forward to coming back to Anguilla and making some contribution,” he said. He added that he would bid on the construction of the Corito pier – not for his sake but that of the next generation.

Other speakers were newly-appointed Permanent Secretary, Larry Franklin, who noted the high visibility of the Ministry in infrastructural development, Fritz Smith, Chairman of the Port Development Project Board who presided over the handing over ceremony and Pastor Philip Gumbs of the Church of God (Holiness) who gave the invocation.

Among those at the ceremony were members of the Project Board and a number of cargo boat operators and other seamen.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News