Minister of Transport and Aviation the Hon. Glenys Hanna Martin walks on the newly-constructed boardwalk at the entrance to Potter’s Cay Dock, Wednesday, September 14, 2016. She is accompanied by Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Lorraine Armbrister and stakeholders attached to the project. (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)
Minister of Transport and Aviation the Hon. Glenys Hanna Martin toured and inspected the on-going works to re-develop and revitalise the Eastern End of Potter’s Cay Dock, Wednesday, September 14, 2016.
Minister Hanna Martin said the project is currently on budget and is a little under the timeline because of the utility upgrades being done around the dock (which includes elimination of need for generators).
The Government allocated $3,122,989.00 for the re-development project, which is a product of private and public sector involvement with many of the ideas for the re-development coming from the mail boat operators and various governmental agencies.
Work has already been done to remove debris, delinquent vessels, and unwanted material and equipment discarded by mail boat operators and others over the years.
As a result of that clean up, Dock officials showed Minister Hanna Martin that marine life and birds are returning.
Minister of Transport and Aviation the Hon. Glenys Hanna Martin looks out at the water where marine life is returning since the clean-up of the area at the entrance to Potter’s Cay, September 14, 2016. (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)
She was also pleased to see the landscaping and boardwalk being constructed at both the entrance and exit to the Dock.
“This is being done to really enhance the experience out here,” the Minister said. “People come out here to enjoy themselves and relax with their families. So this aspect of it provides a sea breeze view and in fact, when you are driving by you will get that for the first time ever.
“So this is a really a critical component. This is just not an industrial facility.”
The Minister has noted that the Dock is an historic facility that has undergone significant changes over the years and has not been without problems. It has been largely undermanaged, crowded and congested with the infrastructure badly in need of repair.
The causeway is buckling, potable water is a challenge, and some vendor huts are dilapidated.
Security is also a challenging issue. As a Dock that handles local maritime traffic, commercial and personal, the Police are constantly refining their strategies to confront criminal elements with intentions to disrupt the peace on the Dock.
The Project to re-develop Potter’s Cay Dock is being conducted in three over-lapping phases, with Phases I and II currently underway.
Phase I involves the removal and relocation of trees on the southern foreshore to create a parking area, which is being extended to William Street.
Worksite at the exit of Potter’s Cay Dock. (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)
Phase II of the Project, includes the renovation and extension of the fish farm store that will be extended by some 150 feet to accommodate mail boat operators and agents.
The extension will accommodate freight holdings, bulkhead curbing, passenger waiting area, and bathrooms will be installed.
The Bahamas Electricity Corporation’s transformer will be relocated to enable the establishment of security checkpoints to monitor and control access to the mail boat area. Permanent curbs will be erected at the end of the dock as a safety measure.
In the final phase, the causeway will be repaired and rehabilitated. The dock entry will be widened. Sidewalks, signage, drainage wells and additional landscaping will be installed. The phase will also result in the complete redirecting of traffic to the general parking area.
Men hard at work constructing the new boardwalk at Potter’s Cay Dock, September 14, 2016. (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)
It is intended that the causeway, after it is repaired and its support enhanced, will be restricted to pedestrian traffic and delivery vehicles only.
Minister Hanna Martin said, “We are about to undertake the construction of a freight depot so that very soon you will not access Potter’s Cay Dock with freight. You will go into a freight building, you will leave your freight and the mail boat operators will have places where they will accept the freight; and it will be their responsibility to deliver to the vessels.”
She added, “This effort is the collaboration of so many stakeholders, public and private. It has really been executed in a way that for me is a matter of great pride, because it has been done so efficiently and on budget.”
The Minister said she was advised that Phases I and II are to be completed by the end of October, and Phase III is expected to begin later this year or by the latest January 2017.
“We are hoping that in the next six months or maybe a little more, we will reach close to the finality of this project, but we have made significant progress already,” Minister Hanna Martin said.
By Llonella Gilbert
Bahamas Information Services
