With a large excavator Minister Cora Minister van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure and Water Management) has on Tuesday May 7th officially given the go-ahead for the construction of the roads in a mayor residential area Cherry Tree where 5 dirt roads will be paved with a total length of 1.5 kilometers. The surfacing of the roads on St. Eustatius forms part of projects that are financed by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to improve the accessibility on the island.
Mainly during heavy rainfall, the roads in Cherry Tree are difficult to access
whereby residents and emergency services cannot easily reach homes. In total, for the improvement of the roads in Cherry Tree, together with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations an amount of 1.8 million euro is being invested.
The roads will be paved in concrete with cables and water pipes beneath the sidewalks. A catchment for rainwater will also be included. Minister van Nieuwenhuizen: “Wonderful that a Dutch construction company and a local contractor are working hard together to improve the roads in the residential area Cherry Tree. We will carry out more work in other areas in order to improve the main access routes so that the people and goods can reach their destination easier.” In total there are 7.6 million euro available for the road network on the island. This way the roads connecting the airport and the medical center and the schools will be tackled.
Minister van Nieuwenhuizen also visited the coastline at the end of the airport runway and the harbour that are greatly impacted by erosion. Annually a few meters of coastline is lost to the sea. To bring erosion to a halt the coastline will be strengthened with Dutch assistance. The coastal road to the harbour, the lifeline of St. Eustatius, will be protected. Minister van Nieuwenhuizen has allocated 17 million for this purpose. “The cooperation with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is good.
This year and in the coming years this will result in significant infrastructural improvements for St. Eustatius”, states Government Commissioner Marcolino Franco.
