THE Hummingbird Beach project is 50 % complete and progressing without any hitches.
That’s according to Malcolm Mathurin, senior project officer at the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation (SRDF), who added that the general public is very pleased with the progress they have made so far.
“A number of persons have already indicated interest in the booths… We are getting proposals for water sports and other types of activities,” Mathurin told this reporter in an interview.
The project, when completed will consist of restaurants, boutiques, a beach bar, a venue with a stage and gazebo for events such as weddings and concerts and a Tourist Information Centre, among other amenities.
According to Mathurin, the construction phase of the project is expected to be completed sometime between the end of March and the beginning of April this year.
“We are hoping that the facility will be operational sometime in June…” Mathurin added.
He said 60 persons are currently employed on the project, which will be of much benefit to the community.
In an interview with residents of the community prior to the commencement of the project, some expressed concerns. However, a number of them now have a different view of it.
Augustus Clavier, who operates a business renting chairs and umbrellas on the Hummingbird Beach, said he is pleased with the work taking place on the project, adding that he expects it to do his business good and create some much-needed employment in the community.
“I am not vex about it….I expect the project to be of great benefit to the community,” Clavier said.
He however added that he hopes that when the project becomes operational, the people in the community who really deserve the booths will get them and not the privileged ones in the community or persons from other communities.
Aloysius Sylvester, another resident said the community really needed such a project.
“Since when my 18- year- old son was about three years old, I have been telling him that I wish there was a place on this beach (Hummingbird beach) where we could relax and have something nice to eat,” Sylvester recalled, adding that he had already “ran the idea” to the Soufriere Regional Development Foundation (SRDF) since 2001.
“The project is very close to my heart. I am emotionally attracted to it… We should have had such a project a long time ago” Sylvester said.
Another resident said he can’t wait for the project to be completed.
“We need jobs in the community because nothing is happening in the country right now,” the resident said.