BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MOTORISTS and pedestrians who passed by the Buckley’s end of the West Basseterre Bypass Road Project got a nasty surprise yesterday morning (June 8) as parts of the development site were completely covered by water.
SKNVibes arrived on scene shortly after 6:00 a.m. and observed some areas of the road project submerged by water. The cause of the flooding was identified as damages to the site’s main water pipe which burst and released many gallons of water.
The EC$18M West Basseterre Bypass Road Project is designed to link the western part of St. Kitts via Camps Village to the remainder of the island by avoiding downtown Basseterre and allowing easier and safer road journeys in a reduced period of time and a reduced traffic flow.
Since early December last, a section of the road was opened to the public – the area by the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport round-about at the junction of the Kim Collins Highway to the round-about at Gillard’s Service Station leading to St. Peter’s.
Construction of the project began in October 2006 and was originally slated to be completed by August last year. However, work is still ongoing and officials are mum about any new timeline they may have imposed.
The government has come under fire from the People’s Action Movement for its failure to meet the earlier deadline, as well as the uncirculated status of a report concerning the tragic bridge collapse in May last year that killed one man and injured two others.
This media house tried to contact Minister of Public Works Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin but was told that he was “off island”. Attempts to contact Oaklyn Peets, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works, were also unsuccessful.
