Commissioner of Harbor Affairs, Bruce Zagers stated that his visions of achieving improvements at the harbor are progressing well. In November 2009, the Island Council approved the project that will have the road between the harbor and the landfill paved.
This is a project that will be done in collaboration with Big Rock Engineering. Cost and Labor will be split 50/50 between the Government and Big Rock Engineering.
Zagers told GIS, "From experiences of working at the harbor I know how bad the dust situation can be. This will not solve 100% of the dust problem; however, it should eliminate most of it". Zagers went on to say the construction of the road will be put on a higher elevation to protect it from the hurricane swells that could potentially wash it away.
"The project isn’t progressing as fast as I initially envisioned it", stated Zagers, "however this was due to the fact that there is a shortage of cement on the Island. The Department of Public Works has already laid out several sections of the road. As soon as the cement arrives on the Island, we should be seeing this project finalized in the short term."
On a separate note, last week Comm. Zagers met with the consultant from Lievense to discuss the progress made with the plans for Phase 1 of the harbor project. This part of the project is financed through the SEI. The project is for the building of a large retaining wall in the area of the rock slides, widening of the road, and the creation of the dock space.
Zagers stated that he was pleased with the first draft drawings and he emphasized the urgency of this project considering the danger involved in this area. Furthermore, he said he would like to see this project finalized before the start of the next hurricane season. The plans for this phase should be finalized by the end of the February if all goes well.
During the first quarter of 2010 the terms of reference for the other phases of the harbor will be created so that each project can be completed one after another.
Source: Saba Government Information Services – gis@sabagov.com