[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he notion that ‘the more things change, the more they remain the same’ is apparently not one that Mayor Peterson Francis is prepared to have associated with him. Since his assuming the role of Mayor of Castries, there have been drastic changes. The popular pastime of “whipping it out” in public is fast coming to an end. Parking meters are on island awaiting related legislation. The Saturday City Night—a street party aimed at generating revenue and keeping the city alive after dark—is rapidly growing. Meanwhile vending in the city is undergoing an overhaul, regardless of its possible cost
to the mayor.
Then there is the proposed redevelopment of the Bananes Bay area. Referencing the area in January, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet said: “It is an eyesore to members of the public. What’s worse is that it’s the first thing cruise visitors see as they come into Port Castries.”
Mayor Francis was on board: “You can count me in. This plan will tie-in nicely with the upgrading of the Castries market and the general redevelopment of the city.”
Work on the area overlooking the harbour has begun, albeit little, but the changes are already visible. The containers and parked vehicles normally parked there have been replaced with forbidding boulders, evidently more effective than no-parking signs. The plans include green spaces, park benches and restaurants.
Also in the pipeline is the relocation of the fishermen and residents near the water. This may turn out to be a dicey undertaking, given the numbers likely to be affected. Romule Lagon, a fisherman originally from Martinique, has been operating from the Bananes Bay area for 40 of the 60 years he’s lived here. On Monday he told me he was “not quite ready to let go but it’s government land and you can’t prevent them from doing what they want to do. Plans for the area were in the works for many years, and I was aware of that. But nobody did anything until now.”
As far as housing is concerned, he doesn’t have an issue. “It won’t affect me as much as it will others,” he said. I’m living just a minute away, but others have nothing. They live, sleep and work here.” Nevertheless, he believes what the government is seeking to do is “a good thing, because right now we have no bathrooms, no running water, no nothing. It will be better for sure.”
