Just Do It Org renovates Runaway Ghaut Trail
Sampling the Runaway Ghaut picnic area
According to Valerie Romeo of “Just Do It, she’s had a fascination with Runaway Ghaut since childhood and in 1996 she along with other friends decided to make it their pet project.” On Monday afternoon, Miss Romeo gave representatives from the Montserrat Tourist Board and the National Trust, local media and other partners a short tour of the trail.
Valerie Romeo can be seen for many years working and beautifying the area of Runway Ghaut. Finally some funding has been provided to assist in the upgrade of the area.
The ‘Just Do It’ organisation group under Valerie has received a much-needed upgrade thanks to the FID sponsored Montserrat Tourist Board Challenge Fund.
“We thought it had a lot of potential and so we began planting ferns around the fountain. Later we added the stone wall along the roadside,” Valerie explained.
The water authority did the plumbing for free which created the water pipe that locals and tourists stop by daily to enjoy one of the finest tasting waters in the Caribbean. In 1998, the Public Works Department provided the group with $3000 which allowed them to expand the scope of the project to enhance the vegetation and carve out the trail.
Just getting to the site is an interesting mini mini tour
Acting Director of the MTB Elveta Chalmers said she is quite impressed with the work that the group of volunteers has done, adding, that they have also improved on and provided Montserrat with another product, which can be marketed for visitors and locals alike.
MTB donated $35,000 through the 2010 Challenge Fund programme to complete the work at the roadside trail, near Salem. Romeo said several problems delayed the project but she is pleased that they were able to complete it. Special appreciation was given to the Montserrat Red Cross volunteers who have adopted an area of the trail which they maintain.
New stone steps have been added in several areas to make passage easier. Several picnic areas have been added along the trail, which winds along the ghaut side. The national flower, the yellow Heliconia is quite visible along the path, while the ghaut made famous by a legend is only a trickle as the rainy season is passed.
The area does provide a natural eco-friendly picnic site with a difference, some remarked. But in the area as the legend goes, “anyone who drinks water from Runaway Ghaut is sure to return to Montserrat again and again.”
