Scarborough plan still on front burner for THA

The revitalisation of Scarborough remains on the front burner for the THA, Secretary of Infrastructure, Quarries and Urban Development Trevor James assured on Tuesday.

“We just had to be strategic in how we pursued it out in the public before we came back again,” James said in response to questions on the progress of plans for the city during a town hall meeting at Calder Hall Multipurpose Facility.

He said a team went out with the preliminary design used during the last THA campaign to begin consultations. He said out of this, a feasibility study has been done and will be made public shortly.

“We have gone out publicly for a tender proposal – that would have closed the 30th of last month – and further to a meeting (Tuesday), the project-procurement people are putting the package together to send it to the PMO (Project Management Office) for evaluation."

He said seven proposals were received, including two for the design, build and finance masterplan.

He said the project will begin the transformation of Tobago.

“We roll this out hopefully, during the month of July – a full rollout, new videos, full feasibility (study), new round of consultations...and hopefully sometime later this year, the executive council will take a decision as to how we finalise the procurement process for this process.”

However, he anticipates some challenges may arise, as he felt "the central government are taking steps to retard our process and what we can do and weaponising state
institutions against the people of Tobago. We are preparing for the possibilities that the project would be targeted.”

THA Chief Secretary and Secretary of Finance, Trade and the Economy Farley Augustine said as the division is preparing to release the feasibility study and look at the priorities in terms of where to start, it is also looking at what can also be done on land to make the capital more user-friendly, cleaner and greener.

The Division of Agriculture, he said, secured funding to rehabilitate the Botanical Gardens "so that it's of world standard and class, so that it’s a place where people would want to walk, go have their picnics, but a really nice carbon sink in the middle of the urban area. So all those things are happening.”

Before the 2021 THA elections, James addressed the underdevelopment of Scarborough under the previous administration, proposed expanding its boundaries, addressing traffic congestion and modernising the area to promote business activity. Major projects included a new ferry terminal, a roundabout and a museum. He said as a way to stimulate business activity and significantly boost tourism, the island needs three piers to allow the simultaneous docking of three large cruise ships.

Plans, he said, also included repurposing the Botanical Gardens and rebuilding the Scarborough Esplanade along Milford Road to include duty-free shopping, as well as hotels, marina and a craft centre. Constructing an amphitheatre is also a part of the party’s revitalisation plan for the capital, he said.