A delegation from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) accompanied by representatives from the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (UKFCDO) conducted a mission to Montserrat from April 16-17, 2024.
The purpose of the mission was to undertake supervision of the ongoing works of the Montserrat Port Development Project, look at the challenges and the lessons learnt.
During the visit, meetings were organized with various groupings to cover several facets of the project. In addition to the infrastructure works, topics such as the Environmental Safeguards along with the Social and Gender Safeguards of the project were discussed as critical aspects of the overall development package the project provides.
The Environmental Safeguards topic included updates on the monitoring of the bats, birds, and sea mammals, monitoring of the water quality, and the coral relocation. The Social and Gender safeguards topic included the updates on the contract-mandated social and gender training being conducted by the contractor, stakeholder challenges, social concerns, and the Grievance Redress Mechanism. Consideration was also given for specific stakeholders to begin the process of strategizing for capacity building of persons on Montserrat who can directly benefit from the completion of the pier.
Courtesy calls were made to Her Excellency, Governor Sarah Tucker and the elected members of the Government of Montserrat. These calls were done to provide insights gathered during the mission, allow for the answering or consideration of questions regarding issues that have evolved, and to facilitate forward thinking and planning for anticipated changes.
The delegation conducted site visits to key project locations, including the construction site in Little Bay and the Contractor’s laydown and production area in Piper’s Pond. The team witnessed a significant milestone as one of the temporary caissons was placed in the water during the visit.
The Montserrat Port Development Project is among the thirteen (13) transformational initiatives being executed across eight (8) Caribbean countries under the UK Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UKCIF), administered by the CDB.