Little Bay is a port town under construction which is intended to be the future

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of the island of

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

, a

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. It is adjacent to the town of Brades, where government headquarters are currently located.

History

The official capital of Montserrat at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, in the south of the island, was abandoned in 1997 after it was buried by the 1995 eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano. Interim government buildings have since been built at Brades, becoming the political capital in 1998. The move was initially intended to be temporary, but it has remained the island's ''de facto'' capital ever since. The project is funded by the Government of Montserrat and the UK Government's

Department for International Development , type = Department , logo = DfID.svg , logo_width = 180px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg , picture_width = 180px , picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...

. Following the death in 1997 of Diana, Princess of Wales, the island authorities began the process for seeking approval to name the new capital Port Diana. In 2012, a plan to construct governmental buildings was decided, and, among other things, a new port is to be built, which should be able to handle ships up to a size of 300 metres. According to the island state, that should also benefit cruise ship traffic. The total cost is estimated to be at least 200 million US dollars, about half of which relates to the port. In 2013, initial work began to prepare the area for construction. In May 2019, construction of the port began. In June 2022, the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (UKCIF), administrated by the

Caribbean Development Bank The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is a financial institution that helps Caribbean nations finance social and economic programs in its member countries. CDB was established by an Agreement signed on October 18, 1969, in Kingston, Jamaica, and ent ...

, granted £28.3m to fund the construction of the harbor.

References

External links

An achievable vision for Little Bay

* {{List of British Territories capitals Populated places in Montserrat Capitals in the Caribbean Planned capitals