INFRASTRUCTURE WORK has begun on the first component of the US$42 million Coastal Risk Assessment and Management Programme, which is a combined effort between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU).
The Holetown Waterfront Improvement Programme, which is expected to cost around BDS$10 million, will encompass 1.5 kilometres of shoreline from Zaccio’s Restaurant to Heron Bay, St James.
Speaking at Heron Bay yesterday during a Press briefing, acting director of the CZMU, Dr Lorna Inniss, said the project would enhance the coastline while also addressing the risks associated with sea level rise, coastal erosion, storm surges, winter swells and general climate change.
“Barbados has built quite a lot of capacity in terms of coastal management but now as the risk associated with coastal hazards becomes greater, it is imperative that, given that our economy is coastal-based, we are able to manage the risks not just to the environment and to recreation but also the potential economic risks,” she said. (NB)
