Dominica signs contract to construct Defence Wall for Colihaut River

Dominica signed a significant contract for the construction of the eagerly awaited Colihaut River Defence Wall which will play a huge role in building resilience, protecting lives, property, as well as enhancing the livelihood of the citizens of Colihaut. This wall is aimed at securing the embankment and protecting the village from future flood related and other unforeseen risks.

This project will include the demolition and removal of sections of the existing damaged stone wall and replacing it with a highly reinforced concrete wall. As per the details, the construction of the wall will cost around $898,000 to Dominica’s government which will be funded through a grant received by them from the People’s Republic of China.

While shedding light on the construction of the Colihaut River Wall, the Prime Minister of Dominica, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit expressed his happiness about being in a position to sign a contract for the benefit of the citizens of Colihaut. Notably, this contract was signed by the Minister for Public Works, Fidel Grant with the local contractor.

The Prime Minister stated that this wall will be constructed with a vision to protect the people from the devastating effects of Climate Change. He stated “when rain will fall for weeks in Dominica, and all we will see is that the sea is brown. But now the moment rain falls, a little rain falls, there is flooding in Dominica.”

PM Skerrit further mentioned about the destructive effects of natural disaster faced by them. He added that they have faced the impact of burial, the surge, which caused damage to some of the roadways, including the Bayfront, where they had to spend over $2,500,000 to resurface the area, ensuring greater access, for the cruise visitors and the citizens of Dominica.

Moreover, PM Skerrit shed light on their commitment to enhance the public infrastructure in Dominica in order to address all the challenges that they have been going through in this world.

NEW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The Prime Minister also extended an invitation to all the citizens for the official groundbreaking ceremony of the International Airport in Dominica that will take place on 9 November 2024.

He stated that they have been delaying the ceremony because they know human beings generally subscribe to the doctrine of Saint Thomas: Seeing is Believing. He stated that he wants the airport to start and see the alignment of the runway before they break ground.

The Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit stated that the construction and completion of the international airport will not only have direct flights from Europe and North America, but also from China and elsewhere possibly in this area.

He stated that Dominica is a sought-after destination, but their challenge has always been air access. The Prime Minister stated that as they have consistently assured Dominicans that they are addressing the issue of air access gradually.

To this end, they introduced lighting at Douglas Charles as a medium-term strategy which helped them in getting direct flight services from Miami and the international airport as their longer-term solution to improve air access.