The Belair Mineral Spa received a much needed facelift over the Independence weekend.

The spa was painted by members of the Resistance Heartbeat Drummers in the national colours and a flag was painted on the tank.

Victor Byron, a member of the Resistance Heartbeat Drummers, the group which initiated the clean-up, told SEARCHLIGHT on Friday, during an interview at the spa site, that they have been taking on the responsibility of repainting {{more}}the spa for the past four years.

“We decided that we need to give the…spa water tank…a facelift. Make it look good for everybody, not just for the community, but for tourists and everybody.”

He explained that they weren’t able to do any repainting last year, because of issues with getting the paint on time. Byron thanked Coreas Hazells for always supplying them with paint.

He said that they are also looking to become caretakers of the spa and turn the spa into an eco-tourism site.

“If we could get permission to… sell some local juice, sell some craft and have a little stage where we could do some little cultural performances on holidays and weekends …,” Byron stated.

And, while many persons have suggested that the water be bottled and exported for sale, he maintains that he and his group are not looking to make any profit off the delicious and unique tasting water which the spa produces.

The water from the spa has been providing members of the Belair community and Vincentians on a whole with rich mineral refreshment for generations.

Byron stated that he believes the water gets its rich mineral taste from La Soufriere volcano, which some people believe is the source.

“If you look around the spa area, there [are] some minerals… some kind of brownish mineral that come out of the earth which resembles lava. So, people believe that there is some connection to the volcano; and the taste of the water, which is a kind of soda water thing, that is attributed to the amount of minerals that is found in the soil,” he explained.

The initiative taken by the group has been welcomed by all members of the community.(CM)