Sandy Bay residents will be getting a measure of relief through a massive sea defence project.

In his Budget presentation on January 9, Minister of Finance, Camillo Gonsalves noted that the village is hemmed in on the west by La Soufriere volcano, and on the east, by “rough and rising seas that are removing many feet of coastline annually.”

“The coastal protection of Sandy Bay is a most urgent imperative,” the finance minister said.

“Without it, the village of Sandy Bay could cease to exist.”

He said in 2018, the Caribbean Development Bank had approved US $13.5 million to finance works on coastal defence in Sandy Bay.

The minister however said that sum will not be enough to “guarantee adequate coastal protection of the entire village of Sandy Bay.”

The Sandy Bay Sea Defence Resilience Project will be done in four phases.

Two of the three lots in the Sandy Bay project have already been advertised, and just over $8 million is allocated in this year’s Budget to start the project in 2023.

“We will be pushing hard to get this work done as quickly as possible,” Minister Gonsalves promised.

Budget 2023, will also address the fast eroding Shipping Bay area, with about $800,000 in coastal defence work.

Gonsalves said that the threat due to the erosion at Shipping Bay, bordering Biabou, was brought to the government’s attention by Member of Parliament for South Windward, Frederick Stephenson.

“The erosion at Shipping Bay threatens to undermine the Windward Highway, and effectively cut off vehicular access to half of the Windward side of St
Vincent. We cannot allow this to happen,” the finance minister stressed.

Initial works will be done to protect an area of 64 meters. The entire project however, will be done over the next two years, at the sum of $5.2 million.