Stop Illegal Sand Mining
Charlestown, Nevis
September 15, 2013
The Public Works Department in the Ministry of Communication and Works on Nevis embarked on a number of projects with satisfactory results since Junior Minister responsible for the Ministry Hon. Troy Liburd took office in late January 2013.
Mr. Liburd was at the time delivering a report on the status of ongoing works in various areas of the Ministry since late January 2013, when he was assigned that portfolio, at a sitting of the Nevis Island Assembly on September 11, 2013.
“In the Environment section, we have seen a significant drop in the incidence of sand mining on the island of Nevis. This I would say is directly due to the Department’s aggressive crackdown on sand mining. We however will remain diligent,” he said.
The Junior Minister also spoke on the headway made to facilitate a faster process for the scrutiny of building plans submitted to the Department of Physical Planning.
In the area of Physical Planning Mr. Liburd said the Department of Physical Planning was involved in a review of the draft Physical Development Plan that had been initially prepared in 2008. He anticipated that it would be completed in 2014.
“We have done much work in the Department of Physical Planning to streamline the way that plans are processed and dealt with. So that so far this year, we have received 124 plans of which 90 have already been approved,” he said.
The Minister used the opportunity to express gratitude to a civil servant about to retire from the Ministry of Communication and Works whom he explained had served with diligence.
“I want to make mention of one of our civil servants in the Ministry of Communication and Works who is about to go on retirement leave Mr. Olson Henry. He has worked with the Nevis Island Administration for some 37 years and I want to commend Mr. Henry and thank him for his diligent service to the Government,” he said.
Regarding works undertaken by the Public Works Department, Mr. Liburd said road works in a number of areas were nearing completion.
“With respect to Public Works, we are nearing completion of the road at Brown Pasture. We have left to do the final grading and then some paving and that project would be complete. We anticipate the completion of this project to be in about a month’s time. We have also been doing some ongoing works on some secondary roads in Braziers Estate. We anticipate that these roads will also be complete within the next two months.
“The Road Maintenance and Improvement Programme continues on the island’s Main Road. We have been continuously doing patching and we have also done some refurbishing works on some of the secondary roads, including Hanley’s Road, where we replaced some faulty drainage work. That work is still ongoing,” he said.
Minister Liburd also reported on the ongoing works the Public Works Department continued to engage in on the island’s schools and public buildings.
“Significant work has also been done in the schools. We have had ongoing repairs in the schools. Over the summer, we did refurbishing works in the Charlestown Secondary, Gingerland Secondary, Charlestown Primary, St. James’ Primary and some of the other schools. Mr. President, the Public Works continues to work hard to ensure that the environment that our children have to learn in is up to par.
“Significant repairs and upgrade works were also done on the Cultural Complex in preparation for Culturama 39. Repair works were also done to the offices of the Culturama Secretariat, next to the Sports Museum in Charlestown. The Public Works has also been engaged in design works for additional spacing’s in the offices at Public Works; design works for additional spaces upstairs where the Labour Department is now housed. We anticipate that the upstairs of the Labour Department construction will commence shortly,” he said.