Work to begin on Kingstown Pier Main Access Trestle

Work is set to begin on the reconstruction of the Kingstown Pier Main Access Trestle by June, officials say.{{more}}

This information was conveyed at a ceremony held to sign a contract for reconstruction on Friday, April 8, 2011, at the SVG Port Authority.

The Capital Signal Company of Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, will spearhead the reconstruction process. Consultation Firm Lee Young and Partners, also of Trinidad and Tobago, will also be involved in the project.

Edwin Snagg, Chairman of the Board of the SVG Port Authority, said that the project should cost approximately $1.4 million dollars. Noting the importance of the project, Snagg stated that the pier is an ‘aging one’ built sometime during the 1960s. Snagg related that the project is an important one, as traffic had to be diverted from the port in Kingstown to the Campden Park Port because of the condition of the pier.

“It (the pier) has done its time, and certainly, we’ve come to the point where we have to do the necessary work to have a certain level of safety and to have the continued type of operation happening at port Kingstown,” Snagg said.

Chief Executive Officer of Capital Signal Sean Herrera stated that he is pleased to work with the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, adding that he has worked in St. Vincent previously, on the set of the movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.

Herrera explained that work on the pier will take about two to three months, including the time needed to procure materials, which he said will take about three weeks.

Herrera stated that they will make an effort to have the construction completed with minimal distraction as possible. Snagg reassured the public that there will be no interference with traffic from the Grenadines wharf.

Elvis Charles, Parliamentary Representative in the Prime Minister’s office, with responsibility for Air and Seaport development, welcomed the teams to the island and added that the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines gives its blessing to any project that will develop the country.