Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance, William Duguid (left), as he spoke with Marsha Caddle, Minister in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment during Wednesday night’s meeting.
Transport sector looking to go green
The transport sector is a major contributor to the significant amount of green house gas emissions, and as such, Barbados’ transport sector is looking to move towards a green transport sector.
Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance, William Duguid stated this during the National Consultation on Traffic Management, which took place at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre Wednesday night.
“It is well known that the transport sector is the major contributor to the significant amount of green house gas emissions that we have in our environment and it is for this reason that we feel the time has come for a greening of our transport sector in order to reduce Barbados’ dependence on fossil fuels,” he said.
“The use of green energy will reduce the negative impact on air quality, the physical environment, water quality and the public as a whole.”
The Minister stated that it was their hope to build a 21st century public transportation system with a 15-year master plan for the sector, which included the use of vehicles powered by green fuels.
He added that as Barbados looked to build out a 24-hour society, they understood the need to address the traffic issues faced by the public. He noted that with the 24-hour society, the need for the majority of the work force to be at their respective places of work from 8-4 or 9-5 would be significantly reduced and this in itself would have the potential to alleviate some of the traffic congestion challenges.
“The Ministry has been working hard to transform the transport sector in Barbados in an effort to alleviate the woes of the travelling public,” he said.
He highlighted that they conducted a consultation a few months ago at a time where they thought it was critical for the public to have the chance to speak on the challenges they faced and how it could be improved.
Being fully aware of these challenges faced by the public, the Minister stated that the Cabinet met in July and agreed that special focus needed to be placed on improving the transport sector. (CLF)