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deCastro – No to RT cruiseship dock expansion, yes to second dock

Says Port Purcell Cargo dock can be transformed into a second cruise ship dock, shopping centre
Donald deCastro is suggesting that the Road Town Cruise ship dock remains as it is, and a second dock be built where the current cargo port is located in Port Purcell.
deCastro said the current dock at Port Purcell can be relocated to the CSY Dock area in Baughers Bay where the area can be tranformed to a deep water cargo dock.
deCastro said the current dock at Port Purcell can be relocated to the CSY Dock area in Baughers Bay where the area can be tranformed to a deep water cargo dock.
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – Outspoken talk show host and community activist Donald deCastro, strongly believes that the expansion of the Cruiseship dock in Road Town does not make much sense and suggested instead to have a second cruise ship dock in the Territory.

On his radio talk show Straight Talk, aired on a local radio station on May 2, 2012, Mr. deCastro, well known for his frankness, stated that rather than extending the Road Town dock, it’s better to take the present Port Purcell Cargo Dock and transform it into a second cruiseship dock and shopping centre.

The expansion of the current cruiseship dock in Road Town has been high on the agenda for the Territory and on March 27, 2012, a Heads of Understanding (HoU) between the Government of the Virgin Islands and Tortola Port Partners Limited was signed that will make way for a 3-phase project to develop the cruise ship pier and land side, to be completed over a 3-year period. The first phase will include the extension of the Cruise Ship Pier, which is to be lengthened and widened; the second phase will be the development of the land side; and the third phase will be improvements to Road Town for improved residents and visitors experience.

However, deCastro, opined that it would be better to take over CSY dock area in Baughers Bay and anymore space needed there that is necessary, to build a deep water harbour for cargo ships.

“… and then leave the present dock in Road Town as it is, then you have two facilities for cruise ships … I think that makes a whole lot of sense and that’s my personal opinion,” he said.

He said the idea of having a deep water harbour on Jean Hill was something he had been championing for since 1961 when he had ran for elected office.

“But nobody listen to me, I was young and they didn’t know what I was talking about and I am saying it again. That is where it needs to go because Port Purcell has now outgrown its usefulness, it is too small and there is no room for expansion,” he explained referring to the existing cargo port.

10 Responses to “deCastro – No to RT cruiseship dock expansion, yes to second dock”

  • Pomgranite (04/05/2012, 07:46) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    what this man drinking....u cant bring ships of that magnitutide to csy! improper facilities, no adequate parking, not enough room for traffic to move, no infastruture, think about the chaos in baughers bay and the surrounding communities....cruis hip dock is an ideal place to upgrade, it needs to be upgraded. U cant have the mecca of docks in the BVI in an inadequate manner and jump into building another inadequate dock somewhere else? BASIC COMMONSENSE!
    • nuff said (04/05/2012, 13:05) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      READ!! HE said move the PORT to Baugher's Bay, not the cruise dock. We ppl just dont read!
      • One Eye Roster (06/05/2012, 13:00) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
        me fren dey question tis can dey read? shoot man dem just want to be on here wid dem hate like spoil brats go Decastro tank god for yu meh bouy
  • yellow (04/05/2012, 09:09) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    everbody need their 3 mins of fame on stage so why is Donald still on the stage eh?
  • real talk (04/05/2012, 09:41) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    What about looking into building another dock agacent the current one on the inner side towards the ferry dock and make that one longer and then fence off the boundaries behind the admin complex . like where the rocks are currently on the edge of the water.. Build a walk way from that end point so that the toursit flow would be direct back to pick up point where they are originally now. this way you could host atleast 6 ships at a time "if" we cant host that many at one time. why look at extending one when u can build a second Dock one longer ? .. The second dock would Host the Bigger ships. extending that dock would kinda of put a block on the cargo vessels passage. think ahead not just for now...
  • I'm Concern (04/05/2012, 13:00) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    I see the very development Idea that De Castro is talking about I often say so to some people when the occassion arises. Also I have been thinking for sometime now that We need to build another Jetty in front of the Administration building and leave the current one as is. This means that I am in agreement also with "Real Talk". Let not us only let the book sense alone make the dicission but try to include the common sense too. The People have a right to be in the dicission making too.
  • Real Stalker (04/05/2012, 13:43) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Decastro right. What the hell real talk know about anything, who cares to hear his opinion on everything all the time. Does everything have to go in that hell hole road town? The real dictatotors probably wont want it since it would threaten their "business" but something along the lines of what DeCastro is suggesting would be very beneficial to a beleagured community and bring tourist dollars and economic oppurtuinity to that community.
  • Consultant (05/05/2012, 02:36) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    What Claude come up with so far? I dont agree with no port going in that area, more on the lines of a tourism economic area. But for that $96,000.00 we aint hearing nothing from skelton-cline as to nothing. He doesnt seem to be very hard at work, just seems to be up and down driving around?


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