BVI News

Gov’t grants permission for 39 commercial moorings to be installed at Peter Island

Government has granted Peter Island Ltd permission to install 39 commercial moorings on the seabed surrounding Peter Island.

This is according to a report on Cabinet’s December 18 meeting, which said the moorings will be installed across four different areas of the outer island.

These locations include White Bay where 10 commercial moorings will be installed, Key Bay with nine, Little Harbour will have five, and Deadman’s Bay will have the remaining 15.

Conditions

The post-Cabinet statement further said that the agreement will only be considered valid once some conditions the government has put in place are accepted by Peter Island Ltd.

The conditions read: “The Government of the Virgin Islands at all times reserves the right to require the mooring buoys to be removed on three months’ notice; personnel from the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands must be given two weeks’ notice in writing prior to the mooring installation process so that they can advise on the placement of the moorings”.

“The applicant must inform the Ministry of Natural Resources, Labour & Immigration and the National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands in writing when the mooring buoys are installed; permission to increase, decrease, transfer or remove the development must be sought from the Ministry of Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration,” it added.

Further conditions insisted that the installation process follow the mooring maps as depicted by government. According to the statement, the maps will be used to calculate the fees for the annual rental of the license, which will be issued in accordance with the territory’s Marine Estate Policy 1996.

Annual license agreement

The final condition stated that it was compulsory for Peter Island Ltd to immediately enter into an annual license agreement with government.

News that government is allowing the moorings to be built on the outer island follows the recent signing of a redevelopment agreement between government and Peter Island Resort. Premier Andrew Fahie promised at the time that the redevelopment would provide more employment opportunities for residents of the British Virgin Islands.

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15 Comments

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  1. Jack says:

    That’s a shame about Little Harbour. Great place to anchor. Don’t know why balls needed there.

  2. BOY says:

    ONLY THE RICH AND FAMOUS GETTING THESE OPPORTUNITIES UNDER A VIP LEAD GOVERNMENT….THEM ALWAYS BOUT SMALL MAN (small man my arseeee)

    Like 5
    Dislike 2
  3. Sad says:

    Paradise, as it once was, will be no more.

    Money and the love of it, without forethought, balance and environmental protecions will destroy the paradise that once was.

    Like 15
    • Diane says:

      Keep Boaty Ball out of there please! I was a fan initially until they started to heavily promote to the charters. Ridiculous now.

  4. i wonder says:

    If the Normans, Smiths and Romneys are taken into consideration???? They all have lands on Peter Island. I wonder who is looking out for their interest?

    Like 4
    Dislike 1
    • only who know know says:

      If you dont look sharp some in the same vip will prefer all those families sell all their land to peter island for a commission.

      Like 5
      Dislike 1
  5. Me again says:

    Why are these being installed by Peter Island ?
    Couldn’t NPT install / service and have a SOURCE of INCOME from these 4 fields ?
    Local proverb. “ Give away your $$$ and s**t through your ribs “ being proven everyday Oohhhh the price we
    Pay for progress

  6. chili says:

    How do people know which moorings are free and available for use?

    • ????? says:

      @ chili. When these are installed WE will all know because for sure they will have a “ white “ person collecting their fees on a daily basis ,
      Lead on to questioning “ will annual license fees be relevant to marine industry rates “ or will this be ( in the INTEREST of creating jobs ? ) Let’s wait and see if we hear anything more about this coming out to the Public

      Like 2
      Dislike 2
  7. funny says:

    $39,000 a year for government

    Installation Block & Tackle. roughly. $117,000

    $234,000 a year for Peter island average use of 200days a year

    First year profit: $78,000

    • @funny says:

      If the BVI government had installed the moorings would they have generated the $234K per year without Peter Island Resort being open. I do not know the answer to that, however sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the good of all. We do it every day in our daily lives and there is no difference with this situation.

      We all want to see Peter Island Resort reopen as it will provide jobs for dozen of BVIslanders and tax dollars into the treasury as well as the collateral benefits to the entire BVI.

      I do not see a problem of giving up $78K per year to generate millions more.

  8. Anonymous says:

    I hope they won’t be boaty balls

  9. Boat owner says:

    Wow, this is one of the last gems left…Little Harbor is sacred. Please keep the moorings away. Please look at the St John model. They installed moorings in order to PROTECT the reef system. You pay on an honor system (so there is no cost to the government to oversee). This commercial license nonsense is just government favors that are going to kill cruising sailboat tourism.

  10. The Visitor says:

    I dread seeing how they will cram nine moorings into Key Bay.

  11. Just Ice says:

    its a real shame a BVI belonger will not be able to take their boat and anchor overnight without paying through the nose..just greed..

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