Christmas road cleaning programme begins

The Christmas road cleaning programme has begun.

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said on Monday that Cabinet has allocated EC$3 million to the programme this year, which complements the EC$2.5 million programme carried out in September.

Gonsalves said it costs a lot to clean the roads and he would have liked to have EC$5 million to run the programme, “but the point is this, … we have to measure the cloth appropriately to the circumstance.”

He said he is uncertain if all the roads will be cleaned, as there are many roads. He is, however, sure that many persons are being employed on a short-term basis.

He said in 2000, the last year of the New Democratic Party (NDP) administration, EC$200,000 was spent in 15 constituencies, although EC$300,000 was budgeted and he does not know how that was split.

Gonsalves added that apart from the road cleaning programme, a number of other programmes are providing work for Vincentians during the Christmas season.

Over 100 persons have been employed by the Port Authority, while other places are providing short-term work.(LC)