Sixteen (16) small business owners now have the opportunity to operate their business at the newly built kiosks on the Roseau River Promenade.
Parliamentary Representative for Roseau Central, Melissa Poponne-Skerrit said in Parliament last week that keys have been handed over to those business owners.
According to Poponne-Skerrit, all countries must have a proud and vibrant city and this is why millions were spent in the development of this new scenic promenade.
“Money well spent that will certainly benefit the small business sector,” the Roseau Central MP said. “It will provide new jobs and new business ventures for 16 new entrepreneurs.”
She expressed the view that the promenade will be a spectacle once opened, “a place of excitement, a place to tantalize your taste buds” and anticipates that this will be the new hotspot for the city.
Those who patronize the food vendors at the promenade should expect a wide variety of food because, according to Poponne-Skerrit, careful consideration was given to that in order to attract the “travelling foodie” because “we must promote what is unique to us.”
The Roseau River Promenade is part of the government’s redevelopment plan to improve and beautify Roseau.
It is being funded by the government of Dominica and ALBA.
Everywhere where development is taking place along waterfronts, developers incorporate the water aesthetics into their designs. View and access to the water are used to increase interest and value to the venture, but whoever designed this ignored such things and condemns patrons to look at a concrete wall instead of the relaxing view of the water. Also, in a time when there has been talk to revamp Roseau to include green spaces, we see a complete disregard of this idea.
Well done government keep going don’t listen to those who cannot even build a pig pen for their constituency. I will feel proud to encourage my friends from the UK to visit DA.I am looking forward to coming back to DA and when we next cruise I will be taking the passengers for mange la Dom inique
Why are you so negative, I am a contractor in the US and I see that the buildings meet international rating codes, the window is about six feet wide and a door about three feet wide which is sufficient ventilation and egress in case of an emergency but they still put a vent on the side of the door and one at the back what more do you want and as for the river, what’s beautiful about roseau river that you want to be looking at. Jsmh
@Michael, you are the a..hole and the ridiculous ….. What can you do better. Nothing but run your mouth and talk sh… Just remember 18 to 3. Next time it will be 21-1.
ki•osk?
There has been so much heavy, heavy architectural narratives going on and other snow-pinions below, on that simple structure that I had to clarify for some: it is
a small open-fronted hut or cubicle from which newspapers, providing information, refreshments, selling tickets, displaying advertisements, cosmetics, jewelry, …..
They are no different from the ones in America, an advanced country, so what is all these roro and bashing about. Would Linton build something better? I doubt it. Appreciate what you have and what you never had before. Just keep your homes and surroundings clean and tidy and everything will be alright. No matter what the man does it is always something negative that comes out of it. Rest assured, Lennox Linton will never, never be a Prime Minister of Dominica. Not on this earth, not on the next one. We need a young handsome and intelligent man to be a PM in Dominica like Maurice Bishop.
it’s always better to stay quiet than to pen your thoughts and removed all doubts…
It’s not worth the ridicule my friend.
I really wonder who designs these things in Dominica? Draftsmen without any architectural aesthetics or concepts of utility:
Backs to the river. No focus on the natural attraction of the city: Think of Paris and the River Seine or London and the Thames (if they know where that is). With a blind space along the wall at the back which provides a great place for men to go and pee pee against the buildings.
No canopy over the counter to protect customers from sun or rain.
No cover for the benches to shelter consumers or even trees to give shade.
And elsewhere, no through ventilation in the apartment blocks and solid sealed class windows, one wonders if these so called architects know that Dominica is in the tropics.
Very lovely facilities, strategically positioned at a high traffic area in the city. Anyone getting the opportunity to operate business there stand a chance of doing very well. My concern is, what about those persons who were there before the upgrading. This was where they earned their living. Why weren’t they given the opportunity to return? Why are the facilities now only available to ‘new business and entrepreneurs? Is this fair to the persons who did business there for several years?
I hope that the authorities will do something about hat gang that set up base just around the corner from this place so that patrons won’t be harassed to buy drugs or god forbid get robbed by them wana be thugs.
So if those kiosks are for labourites only, let only labourites buy their food. And if covid 19 comes back I hope is only labourites get sick since everything is for them.
How many of the previous vendors received keys?
Why were some of the original venders not given keys….
I like the idea, good job thus far guys! However, a poorly finish concept, I think, if what is shown in the pictures is an idea of a finished product? Then there’s a need to go back to the drawing board and come up with ideas that will stimulate growth.
Here’s what’s missing as a finished product in picture #1, a canopy over the window and counter to shelter from the sun or rain.
Picture #2, that area needs to be covered. Otherwise, those picnic benches will not last, if they’re left open to the element, without covering for patrons to sit.
Picture #3, what a waste of an opportunity, the river water should have been right up against the wall, with access to the water for boats, or a deck overhang over the water.
I believe, if we’re going to develop a valuable location or land to build then every effort should be made to utilize those locations wisely. We should have given that area access to all and sundries, like boats, also taking into account the danger that the…
I was thinking the same about the river water up against the wall but rivers usually revert back to their original course, so at some point one would expect the water back up against the wall naturally. It would have been handy as well to have a platform and steps going down to the platform for purpose of fishing or swimming or what ever one likes doing on a river bank. But a good job done so far with the Promenade idea. I also hope some bins are installed so that people using the Promenade don’t throw their litter over the wall.
Good points…Lots of these all over the Caribbean and the best of those could have been taken. But I like it nonetheless. The change is an upgrade and lovely. Rome was not built in a day. My keen interest is in old time Dominican, fresh foods and less fried chicken.
CoVid 19 aside, A Canopy may be a good idea only in the eye of the beholder. It can serve as an invitation or an excuse for non shoppers to gather. Unless, they are securely anchored a sudden strong breeze can turn them into flying missiles – not weather resilient. If not taken down at nights the space becomes convenient for certain individuals to crash and sleep at nights . Canopies have to be power washed often. The benches appear to look weather resistant to me. Unless a new proper river wall/barrier is built no one should entertain the luxury of having a river up against your investments. Rivers have the propensity to erode and grow to unpredictable heights after days of heavy rainfall. Yes, boat owners can bring additional revenues. But, their ‘babies’ sure need proper docking and mooring facilties. Boats and marinas encourage theft unless security is seriously beefed up. Boats ‘excrete’, where is the waste, the sometimes fuel leaks to go? Easier said than done.
this concrete and galvanize concept is just no fitting to the theme of nature isle of the Caribbean. plus the most unique feature of any capital in the Caribbean, “the Roseau River” is not emphasized, along with no shading, and the lack of urban furniture. this is overall a poor solution to the river promenade…smh. these tenants, are they new? what became of the past tenants? was there a tendering process?
allu want people to roast in the hot sun with those sitting tables, what if it rains also!
Hold your labor ka twaviy umbrella
Beau·ti·ful! State of the art kiosks with it’s own character. Roseau business district is definitely evolving into the 20th Century. Congratulations to whoever are the new tenants. Mucho Mula Days.
Do you know what “state of the art” means? In dominica we insist on just throwing words around carelessly without care for the actual meanings and in many cases proper pronunciation. At the state college, the “state of the art” center for ICT is just a basic computer lab. Just a room with desktop computers. We call mediocre guest houses “resorts”, when you MUST have certain amenities to be considered a resort. I can go on and on. Our problem is that we lack standards. We lack humility in many respects. While the kiosks will be utilized for their intended purpose, it is VERY FAR from being considered “state of the art”. No new innovation or special features in these. Not even solar panels if we want to speak about “resilience”. I have travelled and i have the internet to know well enough that these are just basic, and might actually be a bit small if each structure is to be shared.
Clicking in my name not a nom de computer. First of all I am an individual living outside the BOX, always has been. That said, I need to pry your mind out of the box a little. With much “humility”, your word, I will explain – state of the art what does it mean in the international world: the most recent stage in the development of a product, machinery, facility incorporating the newest ideas and the most up-to-date features implemented to promote something as tiny as a vacuum cleaner or in this case a kiosk – not only a computer lab. It is just a new flashy way of saying modern, hot, fashionable……that shows transformation from the past. In the sixties there used to be an open latrine with buckets (phew!) in that precise area on River Street, one lower down where the New Market was built. 2 others at the top of Bath Road and the Gardens, and the other at the corner of the curve from Fort Young going towards the Ferry Dock……What does solar panels have to do with resilience?
No point asking what political allegiance these guys have that got keys. It’s such a shame that our beautiful country is so corrupted.
Remember social distancing…every other bench should be left unoccupied and restrictions to how many enter a building at once.
Hope those who deserve them most got the keys.
I am sure that the vendor’s food will be far more appetizing than the banal and repetitive architecture of these kiosks.
Do we not have a single architect able to make an inspired contribution to the City of Roseau’s built environment?
Well maybe our artiste could draw some concept that could be adopted. When doing this please include trees. And show a view of the river.
In 2009, when the government first requested submissions for this project I responded with a proposal based on a lifetime’s experience in innovative townscape design.
My concept went beyond considering the promenade in isolation but incorporated adjoining locations in order to give continuity for future development. It included drawings and plans as follows:
River Promenade; Promenade Buildings; New River Bridge; Re-designed Market Place, Fishing Terminal & Harbour; North Bank of River; NW River Promontory; Area between Promenade & Hillsborough St; River Frontage between Existing Bridges and Bath Road Bridge.
The proposal included provision for shade in all areas, retail shops, offices, restaurants, residential accommodation, car parking and bus terminal. My design for the new river bridge made a bold and sweeping statement rather than a low slung concrete deck with vulnerable mid-stream piers .
As I am not a “contractor” my submission was not deemed eligible.
So why the distancing between you and the government. The idea of not being a “contractor” leads me to believe that there is/was a credibility gap based on political ideology.
who was the architect in the first place? is the architect local or foreign?
It’s rather unfortunate that the applications of people who were there before were denied And that already established individuals were approved. Disgusting.
fried chicken and bakes and rum alone. Now was a call for business proposals or business people to apply for this? Or is who they want to give under the table they will give? i never heard any call to bid or submit a proposal for these. What about the ones outside goodwill secondary across the street from the DBMC building? who do i contact to be considered? Those people just doing thing under the table and before you know it, all viable opportunities for serious business people gone all land gone all access to national resources gone without a word to the people who pay them to administrate the country. I suspect they feel, is only laborites they need to sometimes answer to or provide opportunities for. Melissa i yet to know what is happening with roseau improvement. Place still nasty with paro all about.
I do hope that it will not be for a selected few weather person’s for or against the ALP or not be fair if so one day God will put them out of power.