$127 million East Coast Road project begins in Dominica

Dominica: Ahead of the beginning of construction that will convert the road network in the East of Dominica, community consultations were recently held in Sineku and Castle Bruce to give information, and hear the interests, suggestions and queries of residents' who will benefit from and be affected by the activities there.

The EC $127 million East Coast Road reconstruction is component of the Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP) beneath the Ministry of the Environment, Rural Modernisation and Kalinago Upliftment, and is administered by a Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and supported by CREAD. The road works will involve the parts between Bois Diable and Castle Bruce, and Castle Bruce to Hatton Garden, which is about 30km. Those areas are especially vulnerable to heavy rainfall situations. Interventions will cover the development of new bridges and culverts, the restoration of roadways, installation of sidewalks, slope stabilization, and enhanced drainage plus street lighting, amongst other safety specialities.

Both community meetings were very well attended and residents were thoroughly engaged and optimistic about the advantages of the project to their areas and the various economic opportunities this project will produce, especially employment both throughout and after completion.

Tenants were able to hear directly from their Parliamentary Representatives, Minister Octavia Alfred and Minister Cozier Frederick, who confirmed the Government’s dedication to enhancing the lives of the inhabitants and the resilience of their communities and guarding their livelihoods.

They also learned from the various members of the technical teams (Contractors, Consultant, PIU & World Bank IST et al.) about the extent of the activities to be offered, their associated durations, and their plan of fulfilling, but most prominently the stakeholders means, passage and process of grievance redress mechanism as was simply described by Kirk Brown of the World Bank IST team.

In addressing both meetings, CREAD's Chief Executive Officer, Francine Baron remarked that the Climate Resilience Recovery Plan (CRRP) has as one of its objectives that 100% of main roads and bridges are able to be open within 3 days of an intense weather situation. In noting on some of the primary features of the East Coast Road Project in particular, the slope stabilisation, more reliable road alignment and widening, redesigned bridges and culverts, as well as improvement to road pavement and drainage, the CEO said that: "All of these changes will enhance the attractiveness of the East Coast area, and bring added visitors and economic opportunities to the East."

The PIU headed by Collin Guiste has been operating assiduously on the delivery of this Project and he joined CREAD's Senior Capital Projects Manager Glen Laville on DBS' Talking Point to present further details and raise awareness to the public on this crucial, transformative project which is made achievable with loan funds granted by the World Bank.