This Christmas, business operators in St Lawrence Gap are hoping Santa will be good to them.
For many, the perfect gift would be a spruced up tourist strip for the winter season which starts mid-December.
Hal Austin, project coordinator of the St Lawrence Gap Revitalization Project, is holding out hope for positive changes within the coming weeks, although he lamented that not much had been done in the year since the project was mooted.
A year ago concerned business owners and operators in The Gap met with representatives from various entities, including the Barbados Tourism Authority, National Conservation Commission, Sanitation Service Authority, Ministry of Transport and Works, Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA), and the Ministry of Tourism to discuss plans for The Gap, which is marketed as Barbados’ mecca for entertainment.
Austin said some landscaping had been done, The Gap had been power-washed twice and the local church painted, but not much more.
“The Gap is in a dismal state,” he said.
However, he disclosed that permission had been granted for fundraising activities around the weekend of Independence.
Reflecting on comments made by Minister of Tourism Richard Sealy during the Budget debate earlier this year about plans to make St Lawrence Gap a 24-hour entertainment area, Austin said lighting was still a priority, as well as repairs to the boardwalk.
“We have had meetings with the police and they have been very proactive; they are working with us,” he said.
Austin said a plan to house vagrants was included in the project as a recognition that harassment and loitering were the two main problems in the St Lawrence Gap area.
“We also wanted to have some proper landscaping as well as put down some additional lights and speed bumps to enhance safety and the environment.
“Some tiling also needs to be done on the sidewalks and foot pavers as well,” he added.
“We want to have this work done by December 1,” he added.
Austin said that it was difficult to entice visitors to walk from one end of the strip to the next because they were likely to be harassed, with the area so dimly lit.
“It is scary to note that the powers that be are ignoring the entertainment mecca of Barbados,” he said.
“We want to impress on the minister to do what needs to be done. The ideas, the commitment and passion are there from the owners.”
Austin said hoteliers were contributing by spending money retrofitting their properties.
Patricia Affonso-Dass, president of the Barbados Hotel & Tourism Association, repeated her concerns about the area.
“There are continuing issues regarding the loitering and drug pushing which are deterrents for people staying in hotels in The Gap, especially when they are going from one point to the other where there is entertainment,” she said.
“The lighting is also bad and the authorities are aware.”
She noted that harassment and lighting in The Gap were listed as serious issues on TripAdvisor, the online travel website.
“This is important because more than ten per cent of the room stock of Barbados is in St Lawrence Gap,” Affonso-Dass said.
“Serious attention must be paid to the area. Constant attention must be paid to The Gap because some of our visitors are not prepared to subject themselves to this level of harassment.”
carolmartindale @nationnews.com
