Carnival set as target date to fix areas in St John’s

Redcliffe Street and the West Bus Station are among places dubbed as “priority areas to be fixed” by mid-July, according to Saiid Greene, managing director of the Antigua Pier Group.
Greene told OBSERVER media that after hearing cries of frustration from vendors and doing an evaluation of the West bus station, a “retrofit of those areas will be done ahead of the 2017 Carnival celebrations”.
A number of vendors and bus drivers spoke to OBSERVER media earlier this week about the unsanitary state of affairs at the bus terminal. However, Greene said that he is aware of the conditions there and that, “work has begun” in order for “history to be made” in the city.
The Antigua Pier Group’s Managing Director said that work has already begun on Redcliffe Street as part of efforts to fix problem areas in the city.
He stated that one can already see “work being done as we speak on the manhole covers that have broken down” and similar work at the West bus station will subsequently be done. Much like on Redcliffe Street, broken manhole covers have led to exposed gutters which have become the source of unsightly garbage and odour.
Sustainable development is integral to Greene as he spoke of “being in the process of beginning daily cleaning” at the bus station. This comes as a response to vendors who have complained about having to clean the vicinity daily before they start selling. He also stated that the bathrooms, which according to some bus drivers, “have been incomplete for almost five years”, will be fixed by the proposed Carnival deadline.
Greene is cognizant of the fact that visitors, participants in the Carnival celebrations and regular citizens will inevitably use the city to take advantage of what it has to offer. He hopes to help make the town more “inviting” as a city with the proper maintenance and fixes.