Browne Confirms October Handover for China-funded Housing Project, Plans Beijing Visit by February 2027
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has confirmed that the China-funded housing development at the former Booby Alley site will be handed over by October as an independence gift to the nation, during a walkthrough of the project with a visiting Chinese delegation.
The project comprises nine buildings containing a total of 150 condominium units, with external painting works completed, internal tiling finished, and window and door installation approximately 90 percent complete, according to project representatives from the Chinese contracting team.
The remaining internal work is scheduled for completion in June, with external works and the sewage treatment station targeted for completion in August.
“We hope everybody will be satisfied for the project,” a representative of the Chinese delegation told the Prime Minister during the site tour.
Browne used the occasion to extend personal greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping and indicated he plans to travel to China by February of next year to renew bilateral ties following the upcoming general election.
The Prime Minister during the tour outlined several adjustments the government intends to negotiate with the Chinese engineering team before handover.
These include the installation of roughing to facilitate the supply of propane gas to individual units, collective garbage disposal facilities, and the acquisition of an adjoining parcel of land to house a water storage tank with a capacity of several million gallons to ensure uninterrupted potable water supply to the complex.
The Prime Minister also announced that landscaping works would begin by the end of June, incorporating flowering plants alongside fruit trees as part of the government’s zero hunger initiative.
Browne reiterated that the project stands as the most significant social transformation initiative undertaken by any administration in the country’s history, having replaced dilapidated wooden dwellings for the poorest residents with condominium-style housing.
I really hope that they are properly maintained. Maintenance seems to be one of our biggest problems in Antigua. I know some nasty people will be moving back to the area with their old ways, I hope that can be addressed and they can have some sort of standard for the area.