JAMAICAN DELEGATION VISITS MONTSERRAT

Minister Mike Henry viewing the Soufriere Hills volcano in the distance.

A technical team representing various areas of the Jamaican economy/culture visited Montserrat from August 26-29. The visit came out of a broad based commitment given by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to assist Montserrat with its re-development efforts following several eruptions of the Soufriere Volcano.

Following the signing of an MOU between the Governments of Jamaica and Montserrat, the delegation which was led by Minister Mike Henry was assembled and later dispatched to the island. The visiting team included high-level representatives of the National Works Agency (NWA), the Port Authority of Jamaica (PAJ), the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), the Ministries of Tourism, Transport and Works; Sports and Agriculture along with geologists from the Caribbean Cement Company.

A house in Montserrat covered by volcano ash and lava.

The delegation spent three days in critical observation, dialogue and assessments with their counterparts in Montserrat, from which a number of recommendations were made for implementation and follow-up work. Among the most significant recommendations was one from the NWA, represented by Mr. Stephen R. Shaw, Manager of Planning and Research and Vivian Blair, Material and Soil Engineer, for the re-designing of the road network into an and around Little Bay, the new capital towns being developed to replace Plymouth, the old capital, which was overrun by lava from the volcano.

Out of the volcano eruptions have come some benefit however. The eruptions have left behind aggregates which have gradually become by far the island’s main export industry. All over the exclusion zone is sand of every desirable grade and rocks of every size and shape that is utilised in the regional building industry. With the loss of Plymouth and other commercial and industrial areas, the island’s original port network was significantly diminished, requiring a major port re-development and re-alignment focus from the Port Authority of Jamaica.

With the airport only able to handle limited numbers of passengers, assistance was promised with air and sea transport. Hence, the focus is on co-ordinating the port and tourism development inputs from the Jamaican technical team, to help boost the boutique tourism focus of the island’s authorities.