The Executive Council of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has approved the funding for a Special Tobago Rehabilitation Programme to carry out repair work on structural damage from hurricane Tomas and any other natural disaster. The tasks include total rehabilitation of roads, drainage, retaining walls, and a preventative alleviation process that will take a lot of money, according to THA Chief Secretary Orville London.
He said Infrastructure and Public Utilities Secretary Godwin Adams and his assistant, Gary Melville, had prepared a list of critical and urgent work and the Council took the decision to establish the special programme to focus on that aspect of Tobago's development and to a certain extent, recovery. The Infrastructure Division estimates that those works will cost between $45 and $50 million. Meanwhile, the Assembly will continue to deliver completed projects of benefit to Tobagonians. Following the delivery of nine projects in December, together estimated at $300 million, the Mt Irvine Fishing Centre will be commissioned on January 31, the Black Rock Pan Theatre on February 13 and the Black Rock Recreation Ground on February 20, while the new Scarborough Health Centre will be commissioned in a month's time.
London said work has started on the new hospital's laundry, due for delivery in the third quarter of this year, coinciding with the date anticipated for the completion of the new Scarborough Regional Hospital.
"So that things seem to be looking up," he said. London said most of the expenditure on these projects came from savings and unexpended balances. "While we embark on this series of deliverables, we are also focusing on ensuring that they improve the quality of life for the people," the Chief Secretary said.
He added: "In relation to infrastructural development, I think that we are very well served based on the investment that we would have made coming out of the savings and unexpended balances of the Assembly."