REAL ESTATE in the future will not only be confined to the mainland.

Prime Minister David Thompson said additional land acreage could be created off the coasts of Barbados by reclaiming lands by constructing offshore islands and marinas for yachts.

Speaking during his Budget proposals yesterday, the Prime Minister said the availability of additional land on the West Coast for further tourism and high valued real estate development was severely limited and constrained.

This was at a time, he said, when the demand for such land continued to be very strong.

"To help solve this dilemma, Government has been invited by a number of private sector joint-ventures involving significant local and foreign investors of good repute and business success, to facilitate . . . these initiatives which will require no financial contribution from Government. Instead, they will provide revenue to the Treasury and jobs for Barbadians through the construction and subsequent economic activity in these reclaimed areas," he said.

Thompson added that these developments would alleviate the demand for real estate on "mainland" Barbados and partly relieve the pressure on prices for land.

He said Government would only allow environmentally-friendly projects consistent with the national park designation on the East Coast. (MR)