BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE people of Sandy Point and its surrounding communities will soon experience an ease in travelling to and from Basseterre, as plans for a new highway linking the two towns are on the front burner.
In his New Year’s Message to the nation, Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas said that in an effort to reduce traffic congestion in urban areas and increase development in the rural areas, a highway would be constructed from Basseterre to Sandy Point this year.
He said that it is the intention of his government to have even economic development across the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
"It is also our aim to ensure that development is spread evenly across the Federation and to reverse the trend towards urbanisation by giving more of our people in the rural communities the opportunity to work closer to where they live and to conduct their day-to-day business in their communities.
"Hence, as a matter of priority, we intend to accelerate the preparatory work in respect of the construction of a brand new highway from Basseterre to Sandy Point that would dramatically reduce the time it takes to get from our airports and seaports to many of our rural communities, including those in the Sandy Point area and the White Gate area."
Dr. Douglas also said that with this new highway it is expected that communities in the rural areas would attract investments and increase tourism developments.
"This would attract more investments to the rural areas and would, at the same time, free the Basseterre area of traffic jams and overcrowding in certain low income urban residential communities. Our aim, of course, is to have major tourism developments in a number of rural communities including Ottleys, Tabernacle, the White Gate area, Sandy Point and Old Road with the expectations that these would spur further development in neighbouring communities and create jobs and business opportunities in the whole of the rural area."
SKNVibes contacted the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Works, the Hon. Asim Martin, who explained that the highway is still in its planning stages.
He also explained that the Ministry is currently in the process of speaking with a consultant to determine the best route for the highway to be constructed.
"We have not identified a route as yet. We are engaging a consultant who would be able to identify the best route and what possible way to create such a highway."
He further explained that a timeframe within which construction is expected to begin and end has not been determined and would not be until a route had been mapped out.
