Residents in Kingsland, Christ Church, are excited the Clean and Green Programme has finally reached their district.
Patricia Johnson, who has been living in the area since 1978, said she was happy to be alive to witness the start.
Minister in the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification, Adrian “Medic” Forde, and Member of Parliament for Christ Church East Central Ryan Straughn were present to launch the 20th instalment of the programme at Kingsland Drive on Friday.
Peter Estwick, who lived in the area for 28 years, said he was excited to see the project get off the ground and showered praise on the MPs for the long-awaited project.
“I walk this neighbourhood saying ‘when you goin’ start the park’, so I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart to see something start in this area for the people of this area,” he said.
Jason Blunt said the project was 40 years overdue.
“I would have grown up in this area and spent a lot of time playing as a young fellow. To the best of my knowledge, it is around 40 years that this was something in the making. I am very happy it is coming to fruition after such a long time. I am sure the persons within the community will utilise it when it is done and will utilise the space,” he said as he offered his assistance.
Additionally, residents were asked to support the initiative and take care of the many fruit trees as the continued maintenance of the park would be their responsibility.
Straughn said: “We feel it is important that within communities people are able to recreate within their own communities and their own spaces, because there are still some limits as it relates to health protocols and not being able to do a whole lot of movement. By the same token, we know these are efforts that have been long standing for too long, and we needed to be able to address them,” he said.
Forde said he intended to fill every available space in Barbados with a tree as he sought to bring the country on par with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to maintain temperatures below 1.5 degrees. (RA)
