The people who live or operate businesses on lower Newgate Street and its environs are being asked to brace themselves for noise and other pollution as a critical part of the construction of the new cruise terminal at the 5th Berth is set to start next Monday.
General Manager of the Antigua Cruise Port, Gasper George has announced that special equipment has arrived at the St. John’s Harbour to commence the sinking of piles for the project and that this operation will generate noise and other irritants for persons in the immediate areas.
“Our 30-foot tower rig has arrived in Antigua and over the coming week it will be assembled on site. That equipment will be used for the first time here in Antigua and starting on Monday 17 March, the construction team will commence the piling. There are 270 piles that will be sunk during this operation at an average of 10 meters deep for each pile. Therefore, one can expect some noise as this operation gets underway. We will try to expedite this process to complete no more than between 60 to 90 days maximum,” he revealed.
George also announced that ACP will hold several stakeholder engagements with various groups who will be affected by the noise as well as they who will benefit from the project when it is completed.
Among those to be targeted for a series of town-hall meetings are residents of the Villa/Point communities. “Our communications and marketing manager and the construction team will be working alongside the requisite government agencies to hold the town-halls to include not just the residents of the neighbouring communities but all of Antigua and Barbuda,” he stated.
The purpose of the town-hall meetings is two-fold; firstly, the ‘bring the project to the people’ to explain in detail what is involved to the gain stakeholder ‘buy-ins’ ad well as secondly, to share the renderings with the public and to invite their input and especially, to indicate for they may benefit.
The cruise terminal is set for completion in the third quarter of this year; the first phase of the tourism development in the area is set for completion by the middle of next year. The project will include a pool, an entertainment area, shops and an area for the sale of local arts and craft.
George said with the acquisition of the San Juan, Puerto Rico, cruise port, by Global Ports, the intention is to use that facility to drive more cruise ships from North America into the Eastern Caribbean to include Antigua and Barbuda.
For Antigua and Barbuda, George revealed that the plan is to capitalize on the country’s strengths in home-porting to attract European cruise lines to utilize the country for this type of operation.
