PM Skerrit explains delay of Roseau Enhancement Project, anticipates construction start this year

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has announced that physical work will begin on the Roseau Enhancement Project this year, addressing a wait time of over two years thus far.

“In respect to the Roseau Enhancement, we’re hoping that very soon we’ll go towards the tender for actual construction,” he said to reporters at a recent press conference. “It has been a delay both administratively of course, every step has to be approved by the Saudi fund. So, it’s not a situation where all of the decisions are within our remit.”

Skerrit explained that the mechanism is comparable to that of the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank, “and so that has created some delays.”

And so, we look forward to this,” he stated. “The Parl Rep of Roseau is there, and she got so anxious that she reached out to the [Saudis] directly and they gave us some assurances that they will certainly seek to give great attention to this project…”

The Prime Minister claims that actual physical work on the Roseau Enhancement Project will begin this year.

“So what we’re doing in the government is we will see some work started soon on some of the streets that are not captured by the funds that we have and we will get Roseau to where we all want Roseau to get to: the address [on] the sidewalks, the drains and the general aesthetics of the city of Roseau,” he said.

During a press conference held in October 2025, Skerrit had announced that the project’s delays at the time were due to the setting up of the project information unit and making a final decision on the staffing.

His update regarding this process is that the moment the staffing was approved, the unit “hit the road running.”

“As I have been advised, there are ongoing negotiations with one of the supervisory firms, [and] once they conclude on their negotiations–that is to say the unit and that firm–that recommendation will be sent to the Saudi fund for its ‘no objection’”, he explained. “Once that ‘no objection’ is received, then we will go straight into the tender of the actual works.”

Furthermore, Skerrit told reporters that he was also advised that the supervisory contract could be issued before the end of October this year.

“We have all of the documents prepared already to send out the notice for invitation of bids for the actual construction,” he noted.

In November 2023, the government received approval from Parliament for a US$41 Million loan from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to fund the Roseau Enhancement Project.

The Roseau Enhancement Project has been conceived “with the aim of metamorphosing the city of Roseau into a contemporary and aesthetically appealing urban center. This comprehensive endeavor encompasses the revitalization of roadways and bridges, the construction of pedestrian walkways, and the augmentation of urban lighting infrastructure.”