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The coastal community of Bathsheba, St. Joseph.

Big plans for Bathsheba

Attorney General and MP for St Joseph, Dale Marshall recently announced the plans for the development of the Bathsheba area.

Marshall was speaking at the reopening of the Joes River Pedestrian Bridge, which links the communities of Cattlewash and Bathsheba in St Joseph.

He announced that the government has plans to commence the development of the area beginning with a brand new community centre.

“This is at one end of the Bathsheba area and at the other end of Bathsheba, expect that the government will be able to break ground in the month of January for the construction of a whole new Bathsheba community facility,” the attorney general said.

Marshall stated that it would sit on the promontory between Tent Bay and Bathsheba, on the exact location of the old community centre which was a general meeting space. He lamented that the community activities which made such structures popular during the 1970s and 80s  had fizzled out over time.

“That property had been shut down for about 15 years and I felt it made no sense to refurbish that structure. So we demolished it and in January we will be having an open planned area with lots of deck space, a tea shop, vendors’ kiosks for selling tourism related things. It will also be a home of the arts, showcasing art displays,” explained Marshall.

The MP also announced that the centre, the newly rebuilt Joes River Pedestrian Bridge, along with a park would help to anchor the continued development of the Bathsheba area. He highlighted that the area has seen tremendous interest in recent times, including the hugely popular Uncle Joes, and the recently added Zaccios.

The internationally renowned Soup Bowl was also mentioned by the MP for St Joseph, who noted that the area is in need of infrastructure develop so there would be easy access to running water and bathroom facilities, worthy of one of the top surfing destinations in the world.

“My vision is that we will see the entire Bathsheba area come to life again in much the same way perhaps as Oistins and St Lawrence Gap as a bustling place. I have always felt that we could support small food businesses and other kinds of enterprises in a way that does not completely commercialise it, because people still live there and children still play there. It is important to maintain and protect its beach-side beauty while allowing for small businesses to thrive,” he said.

(AS)

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