In an interview London said: “I want to use the term Scarborough enhancement because of what happened a few weeks ago people are looking upon it as the demolition of illegal structures. This is not about the demolition of illegal structures, this is about Scarborough enhancement and there are many aspects to that.”
He said it should not be seen in isolation, but a part of a process geared towards enhancing Scarborough and making it a place of which all can be proud. He said the Assembly will continue with a series of activities recalling that a year ago a meeting of property owners was held to discuss improvement and partnering between the Assembly and the business people to enhance Scarborough. Another meeting will be held shortly.
London said because of the emotive aspect of the demolition “we tend to lose sight of other things that are happening in and around Scarborough”. He added that people were forgetting or not sufficiently aware of the move to remove the car park on Carrington Street to a new site which he was assured by the Division of Public Utilities and Infrastructure would be done before the end of next month.
He said the drain along the wall of the Scarborough Port will be covered and a sidewalk built while a number of Tobago artists will be commissioned to paint murals along that Gardenside wall. He said the connector road between the Claude Noel Highway and Garden Street will be opened early in August to facilitate traffic from the east entering Scarborough.
London said there were also plans for the enhancement of the fish port where a slipway was being put in, the surroundings being beautified with greenery and the facilities for the fishermen being improved.
He said the Division of Infrastructure and Public Utilities also has plans for the development of a multi story car park on the site of the present car park at Gardenside Street. Work on this would probable start before the end of the year and it was proposed to use the ground level for vending.
He said the Assembly did not own any land between Dutch Fort and Sangster’s Hill junction and therefore if it was to be involved in this there may be only three ways by which this can be done and the Assembly was exploring all three of them. He explained that this could be done by getting involved in a public/private partnership for a holistic approach to development; purchase the private land and use it for the Assembly purpose and the development of the people of Tobago; or facilitate those private persons who wish to develop the area.
He added that the Assembly has already started discussions with the financiers and a group of contractors and although it has not gone very far it has got the conceptual framework which was a feasible proposition.