Minister of Housing, Lands and Rural Development, Denis Kellman, is certainly in favour of seeing additional development take place in the Bay Street area.
Speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday morning as he introduced a resolution to vest land at London Bourne Towers in the City, in the National Housing Corporation (NHC), the minister contended that the surrounding areas and the persons living in that high-rise housing solution could stand to benefit from such development. While not calling it by name, the minister appeared to be referring to the Hyatt Resort proposed to be built a stone’s throw away from the Towers, contending that anyone opposed to its construction was in essence taking opportunities for advancement away from the residents and Barbadians in general, and impeding the growth of the area.
“If we are to drive urban housing, we cannot see it in isolation, but we have to understand that we must have the right mix and that is why it is very important, especially as we deal with London Bourne Towers, that we recognise that we can’t just build the London Bourne Towers as a standalone, but you must have the necessary development in the area so that the people would feel happy to remain in the area and see that they can drive and get an opportunity to get a job in that particular area,” he said.
The Housing and Lands Minister is adamant that it is important to get the “right mix” in the urban area and he maintained that those who cannot appreciate that any development that comes close to London Bourne Towers or Nelson Street can only be a positive and not a negative are “very short-sighted”.
“…And anybody who stands in the way should be seen as the enemy, not only of the State, but must be seen as the enemy to the people who are also living in the London Bourne Towers, because they are depriving them of a job or being able to provide a service, to service the debt or service the liability they have with the NHC at some point in time,” he stated. (JRT)