The Government of Dominica continues to pay special attention to the rehabilitation of the island’s road network. Prime Minister Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit announced recently that his administration had approved 20 million dollars towards that effort. Over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars from that figure has been approved for improvement of the Grand Fond Road.
The Grand Fond road deteriorated due to increased rainfall late last year. Edge failures along the roadway and damage to the road surface have been a major challenge for those travelling to and from the community.
GIS News visited the community and spoke with Parliamentary Representative Hon. Ivor Stephenson. He told reporters that he is very excited about the recent allocation of finances by government for the rehabilitation of this road.
“We had a lot of rain and there were tremendous landslides on the roads. We want to say thank you to the Public Works department for responding well towards relieving the villagers of Grand Fond and the South East… We saw serious damage to the road surfaces and to the road edges. It has made the road very narrow and [extremely] unsafe for the users of this road. Recently we heard statements from the Minister of Public Works, whereby the Ministry is soon to undertake works on the Grand Fond Road. These works will include [road] repairs, the construction of a retaining wall and shelving of some sections of the road in order to make the road much more motor [friendly].”
The Parliamentary Representative says there is a heightened sense of excitement within the community bearing in mind the importance of this road to residents.
“I must say that the villagers of Grand Fond are very happy because they know how important this road is. It is the main [and only] road being used to travel into Grand Fond. There is no alternate route to travel into the [community]. If this road were to give way [completely] it would [be] a disaster and the people would have difficulties communicating with and commuting to and from other communities in Dominica.
Hon Stephenson says he is looking forward to the commencement of this project as it will improve the lives of his constituents significantly.
“We are hoping to see construction works by a company [named] Offshore Marine. An amount of three-hundred and fifty thousand dollars is expected to be dispensed on the first phase of this road project. This road will not only benefit pedestrians but those people who are involved in commerce and [are] transporting goods back and forth on a daily basis. Those people will be a bit relieved because in some instances their vehicles are too large to traverse the area. Also, [for] persons who are doing construction, the area is too narrow. It is a bit risky to be transporting heavy tons of material into Grand Fond on a narrow strip of road so [the improvements] will greatly alleviate the plight of the people of Grand Fond and I can only say that upon completion, we’ll see a much more improved and a much safer road.”