The cost of the ongoing aerial mapping in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines being carried out by the Lands and Survey Department will amount to less than one tenth of the previous cost.

In an interview with NBC Radio News Chief Surveyor in the Ministry of Lands, Survey and Physical planning Keith Francis said the previous aerial mapping done in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was completed at a cost of over half a million dollars.

Francis noted that previous mapping was done with planes, as drones were not as readily available as they are now.

"2007 cost the Government over half a million US dollars (US$500,000.00) because these planes had to of course come from Miami, they had to be based, it was actually a Caribbean-wide project. So these drones, these planes had to come here and then they had to put up the crew and of course renting a plane for x-amount of weeks is an expensive process. This company called Dis displace, all we have to do is pay them like a podium for them to have meals and so on and put them up and transport them around and so on. All of the work that they are doing is of no cost to the government. So I think this project, I don't have the exact figure, but it will be less than fifty thousand US dollars (US$50,000.00) would be our cost to get all of these images, whereas the last time it cost over five hundred thousand ($500,000.00) so one tenth of the money that was spent in 2007 is now being spent to capture these images."

SOURCE: National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC Radio)