This three-part series looks at the Port of Spain revitalisation project, its progress and how some in the business, building and construction industries feel about it as it moves along. The Prime Minister launched the project in 2020 and aims to establish the city as a leading place for commerce, entertainment and culture. One of its major aims is to also increase the numbers of people living in the city which dwindled over decades.
The late poet and playwright Derek Walcott described Port of Spain in his poem Night in the Gardens of Port of Spain, using descriptors such as “coals of gold oranges” and “alleys odorous with shucked oyster shells.”
The city in Walcott’s poem is not the one most people identify with today.
On a walk through the city one is often greeted with the stench of faecal matter, socially-displaced people, traffic, crime. The nightlife described by Walcott is a thing of the past, as it largely becomes a ghost town after 6 pm.
But mayor Joel Martinez believes the city is ready for change as a revitalisation project inches along.
It's about two years since the Prime Minister launched the project. Dr Rowley announced major plans to restore life to the city, improve traffic circulation, enhance property values, discourage criminal activity, unlock private capital and stimulate the economy.
[caption id="attachment_956479" align="alignnone" width="1024"] On May 4 sod was turned for a private housing development around the Queen's Park Savannah. Dr Kongshiek Achong Low and Dr Boris Yufe's vision is that it will be a mix of commercial and residential spaces. - Sureash Cholai[/caption]
A 2016 economic profile done for the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government showed the city's population decreased between 2000 and 2011. In 1990, the population was 46, 901; in 2000 it was 49,031; and in 2011 it was 37,074.
In a March press release on news.gov.tt, the Government announced headway had been made. It said then Minister of Planning and Development Camille Robinson-Regis – as chair of the Revitalisation of Port of Spain Ministerial Committee – had received progress reports from sub-committees and preparations for future projects.
A significant portion of the overall goals were reportedly on schedule and Cabinet received a proposal about land acquisition for relocating the homeless, a key part of the project, it said.
It added that a study for concepts for a monument for Ariapita Avenue and proposals had been submitted for mixed-use developments of the Salvatori site, Independence Square and Frederick Street and the Piccadilly Street Housing Development.
Martinez does not know what the monument would be, but said it was not a monument to anyone in particular.
There is now a car park at the Salvatori site, once the home of the Salvatori building which over the years housed a general store, oil companies and government ministries.
Other projects include an inner-city tram system, repaving and widening Wrightson Road, expanding the Emperor Valley Zoo, removing the Port of
