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Minister for Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure, Hon. Joey Hew visited National Community Enhancement (NiCE) workers at locations across Grand Cayman on Wednesday, 17 July.

The two-hour bus tour took in ongoing and recently completed beautification work that had been earmarked ahead of the two-week initiative which ended last Friday, 19 July.

Minister Hew welcomed the chance to meet project workers in person. He also used the field trip to speak with supervisory staff from the National Roads Authority and the Departments of Environmental Health and Public Works about the initiative.

Starting off at South Sound dock to see how the sea and wind state affected the amount of sargassum reaching the shore, he travelled eastward to other sites. Minister Hew’s tour included meeting crews undertaking roadside verge clearing in Midland Acres, and another team collecting litter and cleaning the beach near the Old Man Bay dock. He was particularly impressed with the results of the sargassum clean-up efforts at Frank Sound Junction Launch Ramp.

Having seen the impact of NiCE remediation work accompanied by Project Manager Lois Kellyman and his Ministry team, the Minister was impressed by the attitudes of the participants.

“The tour was a good opportunity for me to talk directly with NiCE workers and find out their day-to-day experiences of working on the project,” he said.

“The NiCE crews have been a common sight recently particularly on our beaches, roadsides and parks. It was important for me to take the time to meet and thank them on behalf of the government and my ministry for their efforts. This trip clearly showed the pride many participants take in beautifying the community and further confirmed my opinion that sargassum is a long-term issue that requires a concerted long-term and cross-agency solution.”

The NiCE Winter Project 2019 is scheduled to run for three weeks from Monday, 25 November to Friday, 13 December.