Little Bay is a port town under construction which is intended to be the future capital of the island of Montserrat, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is adjacent to the town of Brades, where government headquarters are currently located.
Little Bay | |
|---|---|
Planned town | |
 View of the port and town of Little Bay, Montserrat, looking south from Rendezvous Bluff. | |
  Little Bay Location of Little Bay within Montserrat  Little Bay Little Bay (Caribbean) | |
| Coordinates: 16°48′10.4″N 62°12′17.6″W / 16.802889°N 62.204889°W | |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Overseas territory |  Montserrat |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (Atlantic) |
| Website | mdc |
History
editThe de jure capital of Montserrat at Plymouth, in the south of the island, was abandoned in 1997 after it was buried by the 1995 eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano. Interim government buildings have since been built at Brades, becoming the temporary capital in 1998. Although this move was initially intended to be temporary, it has remained the island's de facto capital ever since.
The project is funded by the Government of Montserrat and the UK Government's Department for International Development.[1][2] Following the death in 1997 of Diana, Princess of Wales, the island authorities began the process for seeking approval to name the new capital Port Diana.[3]
In 2012, a plan to construct governmental buildings was decided, and, among other things, a new port is to be built, which should be able to handle ships up to a size of 300 metres. According to the island state, that should also benefit cruise ship traffic.[4] The total cost is estimated to be at least US$200 million, about half of which relates to the port.[5] In 2013, initial work began to prepare the area for construction. In May 2019, construction of the port began.[6] In June 2022, the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UKCIF), administered by the Caribbean Development Bank, granted £28.3m to fund the construction of the harbour.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Little Bay Development". Projects.dfid.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ "The Capital Town | Invest Montserrat". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- ^ "Montserrat Asks to Re-name Capital after Diana". BBC. 3 September 1997. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
- ^ "Little Bay & Carr's Bay". Montserrat Development Corporation. 29 November 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014.
- ^ Jarvis, Travis. "MDC Chairman calls Little Bay Development and port project, 'ambitious'".
- ^ "Little Bay Port Development Launched to Boost Economy, Connectivity". gov.ms. 17 May 2020.
- ^ "Montserrat US$46M port development now underway". Caribbean News Global. 22 June 2022.
External links
edit- An achievable vision for Little Bay Archived 28 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Little Bay (New Capital), Montserrat, Caribbean
Media related to Little Bay, Montserrat at Wikimedia Commons
