Sea Defence work at Shipping Bay
As St Vincent’s government moves to sure-up several of the islands coastlines from rising sea levels, Shipping Bay located on the Eastern coast of the country will be given much needed attention.
In May of 2017 St Vincent Times had highlighted that a retaining wall and gabion in the vicinity were falling apart. At that time the then Chief Engineer Brent Bailey who worked with the Ministry Of Transport and Works told us the coastal zone on the Windward side of St Vincent was experiencing erosion rates of half a meter per year, to as much as three and a half meters in some areas per year.
In the recent budget presentation for 2023, Finance Minister Gonsalves said the area MP Frederick Stephenson has been instrumental in bringing the magnitude of this threat to the governments attention, raising the alarm about its urgency, and participating in the detailed discussions as to project design and financing.
“The erosion at Shipping Bay threatens to undermine the Windward Highway and, effectively, cut off vehicular access to half of the Windward side of St Vincent. We cannot allow this to happen”, Gonsalves stated.
Gonsalves said budget 2023 will begin to address the most vulnerable parts of the Shipping Bay coastline with an $800,000 investment in 64 meters of stone revetment to blunt the impact of the crashing waves.
“The entire $5.2 million project will proceed over the next two years”, Gonsalves said.
