Land issues stall Georgy Hill Road, gov’t promises speedy resolution
BVI News staff - Thursday, February 7th, 2013 at 11:18 AM
Georgy Hill Road
The Works Ministry said it is trying hard to resume work on the Georgy Hill Road in Tortola, adding that the development has been stalled due to issues surrounding lands required to make the modification.
In a statement issued days after BVI News sought answers regarding the project, the ministry declined to disclose the specific land issues and the exact date for the resumption of work.
The statement issued by the Government Information Service reported that the ministry’s Acting Permanent Secretary Gary Penn has apologized for the delay.
“We want to apologise for the lag in the project. However, when completed, it will be well worth the wait. We are appealing for motorists and pedestrians to continue to have patience with us as we continue to develop our road networks,” Penn said.
The works that began in late November of 2012 are designed to widen portions of the roadway, re-profile the road in order to decrease its steepness and improve drainage issues in the area.
“Once completed, motorists and pedestrians will derive many benefits such as sidewalks on both sides of the road, the widening of the road which will allow two lanes of traffic to flow comfortably, adequate drainage, and a well-lit road,” Penn further said.
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what gone bad in the morning cant get good in the evening
Vicious, undoubtedly politics loom large in local politics. Family ties, friendships, demanding supporters, personal interests and lobbyists hamstrung politicians, making them relatively ineffective. Nonetheless, they are elected to act and make things happen.
Strong leadership is not a friendship contest and it is not for needy personalities that want everyone to celebrate them. They have to be tough- minded and make tough decisions that disrupt, impact, interrupt and shake up an organization. Tough leaders make ma ny prople unhappy. These are excerpts from the Transformative CEO by Jeffrey Fox and Robert Reiss.
The BVI needs a major transformation to adjust to changes and changing times. Without this transformation to arrest the inertia, the public sector will stagnate and collapse due to the lack of force to overcome the inertia. There is an opportunity to act but which politician will demonstrate the courage and strength to take the right and but unpopular action. The territory needs strong, bold and courageous leadership to transform it. Whose legacy will be doing the right things, not just doing things right.
This is an example of poor planning resulting in p…s poor performance. It is customary before a project is rolled out for bidding and construction that land acquisition and other planning issues, along with funding issues, are worked out before construction commences.
We need to stop the dog and pony shows and the photo op and do the proper planning. Starting projects that are still being planned just to create an illusion or make believe of action is nonsense. It is poor management of resources and ineffective governance.
The only things that should pop up after a project starts is unforeseen construction problems and latent defects.
This land issue should have been identified early in the planning process. It is neither an unforeseen construction nor a latent defect issue. This is an unnecessary change order and work stoppage. Someone has egg splattered all over his /her face for missing the obvious, something that was as broad as day light.
This gross oversight cause an unnecessary delay in delivering a complete and usable road. But this was such a big miss so I wonder if it were really an oversight. Or the problem was known but deliberately ignored for political reasons with the hope that it could be resolved before the road construction got to the current choke point?
Yes, but the problem is we continue to blame the Politicians while the civil servants that are responsible get no flack for their performance or lack thereof. Many of these heads are paid more than the Ministers themselves but nobody holding them accountable. A minister should take responsibility yes, but the ground work is done by the employees in the relevant departments. If they are not working then what? Do you think they care? At the end of the day they collect their salary, automatic increment and cash lump sum pension after 25 yrs, whether they perform or not. So what’s the use?
Ministers have ultimate responsibility for the performance of their departments; they cannot shirk that ultimate responsibility. Does not all projects have to be bottom-lined by ministers? Yes. Delegating does relieve ministers of the ultimate responsibility.
Morever,they should look out the “window” and share any successes; but on the other hand, they need to look in “mirrow” and singularly and non-conditionally accept the responsibility for any failures. This is a core characteristic of strong leaders.
Further, ministers, like other managers/leaders, should deal skilfully with staff, providing positive feedback for outstanding performance, helping those with performance issues and if need be taking disciplinary action for those who failed to improve their performance even after coaching, mentoring…..etc
We are on the same page but my real point is this, which Minister has the cajones to make the necessary changes to their departments in order for them to function better, without getting backlash from party supporters, family members and such? That’s the problem here, we know what needs to be done but are we ready for that action? We are not! Once a civil servant isn’t performing, they’re transferred to another dept with the same salary and allowed to continue to be a frig to tax payers. It’s evident that the service needs a good shake up but unfortunately nobody has the balls to do it and even if they did have it, we would kick up a stink anyway. That’s just us!
But … Planning and preperation is not in the BVI vocabulary
cart before horse again
So, wait, they didn’t know there were issues before proceeding? Shouldn’t any land issues be resolved before contracts are signed and works started? What the hell am I reading here? Surely they must have known that private land would have been affected by this? What are we paying these civil servants to do?
Funny thing is, the first article I saw online with this project had about 10 persons in the pic.
Now we here about land issue.
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