Operations at Port’s Shed 2 and 4 to restart fully on Monday

Operations in Shed 2 and Shed 4 at the Bridgetown Port will restart fully from Monday as well as operations at some fish markets islandwide.

Word of this came from Minister of Home Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams, as he addressed a televised press conference yesterday, where he gave an update on the clean-up activity that has been occurring locally following the ashfall from the La Soufriere Volcano in St. Vincent.

“As of today, Shed 4 has been prepared to restart operations fully on Monday, April 19, 2021. Shed 2, that is the shed where personal effects are delivered, that is currently being cleaned and ready for operations also on Monday. To minimise complaints, the Barbados Port Authority Inc. has been using private contractors to do sweeping and wetting and shovelling after the sweeper passes through the roads and the AC unit across the Port will be serviced during the weekend ahead of opening the work spaces.”

Abrahams also shared that on Friday, deliveries of containers was paused “to facilitate the serving of air-conditioning systems on cargo handling equipment and to clean-up the roadways and cargo stacking areas”.

He also stated that the Port continues to service vessels, discharging and offloading cargo as required and the work in the Port’s Administration office continued without interruption.

Opening of fish markets

Turning his attention to speak about the reopening of fish markets, the Home Affairs Minister said “all the major clean-up and washing down in the markets will be completed” by Friday [yesterday] evening. However, some clean-up work will continue today with the view towards opening on Monday. He identified which markets have been experiencing some challenges.

“The challenge at Consett Bay and the Millie Ifill, that is the western fish market, is that the ash is blowing downhill from the roads into the market, and the Ministry is working with the MTW to wash down the area. The Paynes Bay Market will be closed until further notice due to the need to clean up, which is complicated by the ongoing road works along Highway 1.” (MG)