Continued overflow of sewerage at Road Reef a health, financial risk
After years of being left unattended, overflowing sewerage at the entrance of Road Reef is now posing a health and economic risk to operators in the area.
When BVI News visited the area on Monday, raw sewerage was observed gushing from underground through a metal drain cap located just footsteps away from the entrance of a popular food market. The ground nearby was saturated with the potentially disease-causing sewer waters and even human faeces have been said to surface at times.
According to Mark Sanders who partly owns and operates a yacht charter business in the area, the overflowing sewerage has impacted his business as customers feel uncomfortable with the foul smell.
“There are areas within our marina that are rendered unusable because of the stench and contaminated water. I have also seen human waste pooling in the food market parking area — being walked on with shoes [and tread] into the market itself. The near-constant leakage has destroyed the road surface, and when they do manage to stop the leak, the waste dries into toxic dust, which blows everywhere. It is extremely damaging to tourism, it is a public health hazard, and all of us with businesses on Road Reef are sick of having to drive, ride or walk through this nastiness,” Sanders noted.
Years of emails
Our news centre has seen several emails about the problem that Sanders sent to multiple officials to at Ministry of Works & Utilities. Some of these records date back to 2019.
In his latest email to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Ronald Smith-Berkeley and several others dated October 12, 2021, Sanders issued another complaint about the sewerage problem.
“It is now four days since I reported our last sewerage leak at the entrance to Road Reef. Nothing appears to have been done to rectify this issue, and we now have a lake of foul-smelling water pooling all the way down the entrance road to Road Reef,” he wrote.
“As people have walked, ridden, and driven through this health hazard, and also the close proximity to a food market, I feel it only appropriate that the Environmental Health Department immediately gets involved. This unacceptable situation has been going on for many years now, and it needs proper resolution before somebody gets seriously ill or worse,” Sanders added.
Empty promises?
Smith-Berkeley had promised a little more than a year go to have the problem fixed within the first half of this year.
In that response to one of Sanders’ emails on September 29 2020, Smith- Berkley had stated: “I will simply say that the ministry is working closely with the director and her team at WSD (the Water & Sewerage Department) to permanently resolve these issues. As it relates to the matter of the sewerage at Road Reef, there is a permanent fix in the making but will not come to fruition until Q2 of 2021 approximately”.
Smith-Berkley added the long-term fix should result in the removal of the pump from the middle of the road to facilitate a bigger station with adequate size pumps.
However, Sanders said the situation has yet to be rectified but he hopes it will be addressed soon enough as the tourist season has started.
BVI News tried to contact the minister responsible for works and utilities, Kye Rymer, as well as the Director of the Water and Sewerage Department Pearline Scatliffe-Leonard for comment but up until news time, no response was received.
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Kye not fixing it because its not located in the 5th district. I’ve noticed he paved all the roads in his district and installed street lights on every pole while leaving the other districts in total darkness.
“raw sewerage was observed gushing from underground”
Sewerage can’t gush! Sewerage is the pipework that carried the sewage. It’s sewage that gushes.
You can’t just feel the BVILOVE, you can smell it! From mold in the schools to s**t on the street. LIFE IS GOOD, VIP ALL THE WAY!
It’s Irma, no, it’s Maria, wait, it’s COVID, umm, no it’s Gus..what? Oh, it’s the COI. We have a young Government so please bear with them.
You made me lol. Don`t forget : who to blame, BUT it wasn`T ME. HHHHAAAAAA
Kye is showing his true colors.
is that also not sewerage which is seen gushing out each morning in to the road by the round a bout near to post office/Citco building? that has been going on for several weeks
It is really bad. I went to BrivaDerm the other day and it was all over the parking lot. Hope it is remedied soon.
Sewerage is flowing at the roundabout as well. Isn’t that a bigger health threat than having people putting toxic sanitizers on their hands every second? Which actually doesn’t make much sense. Clean up the place we are living in a fairy tale place. Forcing people to act clean for the cameras and living in sewerage behind closed doors.
WE NEED TO REPLACE THIS GOVERNMENT BECAUSE THE COUNTRY IS GOING BACKWARDS
Not to replace it with NDP
With a good refurbishing of good minds who do see elected office as a way towards aquiring great wealth, the NDP could become a viable party once again.
Can’t be no worst than what exist today.
I thought we wanted to drain the swamp? Seems we are kneed deep in it. BVILOVE for all to see, feel and smell just in time for our booming tourist season. We are in overdrive, moving and not turning back!
I glad for all of them. I hope they found what they were looking for.
Amazing when you think of the Government’s annual budgets of hundreds of millions for years and years. What a lost opportunity.
Those escaped Haitians probably went home, because the sewers worked better!
Well poor East End !! Roads potholes …holes deep like crater lakes,.
now is Tourist Season the mud road leading to Long Bay Beach is like riding on the sea during high waves ride . What a shame to one of the tourist destinations for enjoyment . This government has to do better . Wait Wait “‘We are a young government, we are still learning .”’Thanks to the COI!!
This is emblematic of a failed state. Millions have been spent for decades to fix all of this and more, but to no avail.
After countless and untold millions spent to send persons away to schools of higher learning, we still have not trained qualified persons that can properly deal with waste management.
Sadly, it’s our health, clothing, and shoes, that have suffered for decades!
Such a shame!
And we’re living in the twenty first century!
Is it the training or where the money went that should have been directed to fix these issues l
wow and then this peole wants to charge a high bills to the community i’ll wait for my bill to see robbing people packets paying water bills
Its not raw sewage, of course not, they wouldnt pump that straight into the most beautiful sea in the world…its just the product that emerges from the house of assembly. All the words they speak gets piped straight to road reef!!!!
Are we sure it is not just the foul stench of BVI Government that is coming to the surface.
Yes, the Government need to do better.
But, what about the residents? The landlords? You all should take advice and maintain your septic systems. Ensure it is not flowing onto the government roads or in your neighbours property. Monitor your pipelines so that no leakage is happening. You’ll collect rent with ease but leave the tenants breathing in mess. You increase the size of persons but keep the small septic tank. Sometimes you allow the waste to flow to the sea, with no remorse. Your waste dries up and becomes airbourne also. Yet, it’s only the government? It IS EVERYBODY!