Gov’t handed keys to renovated Flax Admin Building on VG

The government has received the keys of the Flax Administration Building on Virgin Gorda following an official rededication and handover ceremony this morning.

Speaking at the ceremony, Premier Andrew Fahie said public officers deserve to have a safe and comfortable working environment. He also said members of the public also deserve to have a comfortable, safe and functional facility when they need to access government services.

“They also deserve convenience because we all know how an additional challenge it can be when persons have to catch a ferry to commute into Road Town to access services and to hear that the person who is supposed to give that service is out for the day,” the Premier added.

“Coming back tomorrow means nothing to those on the mainland of Tortola because you simply get a car or catch a ride and go home and come back tomorrow. But for our sister islands that means they must do the same thing but catch the ferry and go back home and do it all over the next day. With this building, we are ensuring that those days are over,” Fahie added.

Representative of the Ninth District Representative where Virgin Gorda is located, Vincent Wheatley, said he made a promise back in 2019 to make the restoration of the Flax Administration Building a priority.

“One of my priorities I said must be the government administration building on Virgin Gorda. The building has been struck since 2017 and 2 years later, the many public officers who were sitting in these less-than-ideal conditions were wrong. These are our brothers and sisters, hardworking public officers, and I thought the least we could do was to not only reform the building but to transform,” Wheatley said.

“What you are going to see here is indeed a transformed space. It hasn’t simply been restored; it has been configured differently to be more efficient and greater more opportunity for further government services offered here on Virgin Gorda,” the Ninth District representative continued.

Meanwhile, Deputy Governor David Archer Jr said he was pleased to see the restoration of the building completed. He said after the hurricanes, when he saw the destroyed building, he lost hope for the first time in a long time.

“I did not feel rather hopeful but as we continue to walk in the days after and we continue to walk and talk and when the officers said we can still work. We can just patch here and put this here. At that point, I realise we were dealing with something that was greater than the common man and woman. We are dealing with people on an island and throughout the BVI who are willing to work regardless of their conditions,” Archer Jr said.

Brian Marshall, Director of Metro Construction — the company responsible for the redevelopment of the building — said projects like these which are to serve the community are rewarding for his company.

“We hope that persons who work here and those who visit for service will be well satisfied. Metro also can say we are pleased we completed this project successfully without incident and on budget,” he said.