At times the price of development carries with it some unfortunate circumstances as a country moves forward. This is to be the case in Anguilla where an age-old tamarind tree is to give way to new road reconstruction.
The lofty tree is located on the opposite side of the street near the Pro-Cathedral of St. Mary. It is a location, just south of the People’s Market, where, beneath the tree, pot fish and ground produce are regularly sold by vendors. Occasionally, it also serves as a major outlet for the mass sale of jack fish caught in nets outside the Island Harbour inshore waters. There are also plans to repair and further improve the People’s Market, making it the focal point for the sale of fish and other food products.
The Carter Rey Boulevard, also called The Valley Main Road, which is to be redeveloped, extends from the Roundabout north of the Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport to The Valley Roundabout – just south of the Ronald Webster Park.
The Acting Premier and Minister of Infrastructure and Tourism, Mr. Haydn Hughes, spoke about the planned removal of the tamarind tree – and related matters – during the Government’s Press Conference on Monday, June 28, 2021.
“It is important that we redeveloped the People’s Market,” he stated. “It has been almost four years since it was destroyed by Hurricane Irma and is a prerequisite to the development of The Valley Main Road – and it is just not simply paving The Valley Main Road. It is a whole redevelopment of that road that leads from the Roundabout at the Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport to the Roundabout at the James Ronald Webster Park.
“It is to take into consideration drainage, underground utilities, roundabouts and, in particular, a major roundabout at the Social Security junction, sidewalks on both sides of the road and bus stops… So it is a whole redevelopment of the area there. Unfortunately, the Government will have to remove the large tamarind tree that sits across the street from the Pro-Cathedral of the Anglican Church. That tamarind tree has been there for hundreds of years and there is no way around it. I pleaded, I prodded and I hoped that we would some way, somehow, preserve that tree but there was no way [to save it]. We know that tree provides shelter for persons selling their fish and vegetables. And it is important that we redevelop the People’s Market so that persons can utilise it to conduct the business they conducted under the tamarind tree.”
One reporter, commenting on the plans to redevelop the People’s Market, asked: “Will we then have vendors all over the place?”
Mr. Kyle Hodge, the Minister of Economic Development, replied: “That’s a good question. There seems to be a lot of interest now in the People’s Market since it was destroyed – but this is very strange because, when it was functional, it was not utilised. But, I believe, we have come of age and those vendors across Anguilla may now see a reason to have a central area where everybody comes together [to sell their goods].”
He added that his Ministry had been receiving calls from farmers about restoring the People’s Market, and while there was that much interest it would be a good idea to get it done.
