LETTER: A public health crisis at Paraquita Bay… And no one is answering!
Dear Editor,
The abattoir at Paraquita Bay has been without water for three weeks.
I want the public to sit with that for a moment. Not water pressure issues. Not intermittent supply. No water. For three weeks. At a slaughterhouse.
We have all learned to live with the indignity of water that comes for an hour in the early morning, or skips your street entirely on certain days. That is a quality-of-life issue, and a serious one. But what is happening at the Paraquita Bay abattoir is a different category of problem entirely.
An abattoir is not a home or an office. It is the facility where animals are slaughtered and processed before the meat reaches your supermarket, your restaurant, your table. Water is not optional in that environment. It is essential for every step of the process — washing animals before slaughter, cleaning equipment, sanitising surfaces, managing biological waste. Without water, safe meat processing is not possible. The standards that protect the public from contaminated food cannot be maintained.
The farmers who depend on that facility to process their livestock have been left with nowhere to go. Animals that should have moved through the supply chain have not. Livelihoods have been disrupted. And the public, who eat the meat that facility produces, should be asking serious questions about what has or has not been processed during this period.
Government’s reported response to a three-week water outage at the territory’s slaughterhouse was to suggest trucking water in.
That suggestion — trucking water — is not a solution. It is an admission that no one in authority took this seriously enough to fix it.
This is the Premier’s district. District 7. He is not only the representative for that area – he is also the Minister responsible for Agriculture and Fisheries. The abattoir and the farming community at Paraquita Bay fall directly within his portfolio and his constituency.
In May of last year, Premier Wheatley stood at a ceremony in Paraquita Bay and stated, in his own words, that water access was “perhaps the most urgent challenge” for farmers there. He signed a contract. He gave remarks. Those remarks are published on the official government website to this day.
Ten months later, the abattoir has had no water for three weeks.
The Junior Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Karl Dawson, has offered no public statement on the matter. No explanation. No update to the farming community. No acknowledgment that anything is wrong.
We are not talking about a pothole or a delayed permit. We are talking about a facility where food is processed for public consumption, sitting without water for 21 days, while the government that is responsible for it plans billboards and press releases for a new agricultural complex down the road. This is an insult to our common sense.
The people of this territory deserve an immediate explanation from both the Premier and the Junior Minister. They deserve to know how this was allowed to continue for three weeks. They deserve to know what was or was not processed at the facility during this period. And the farming community that has been quietly bearing this disruption deserves to know it will not happen again.
Silence from those in authority is not neutral. On a matter touching public health and food safety, silence is a failure of duty.
The public is watching. And waiting.
Yours truly,
Concerned Resident Tortola, Virgin Islands
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“This is the Premier’s district. District 7. He is not only the representative for that area – he is also the Minister responsible for Agriculture and Fisheries”. What are the reasons for continuing to re-elect him if he is not helping to elevate this district? Water scarcity has been an issue for the BVI for years, and there is no sign of improvement. What is becoming of our modern-day nation???
The biggest “Wasteman” in political history. When will this nightmare end!?
Y’all better get rid of the Hon. Premier come election. His not ready… just promises with no action. He is an empty well. The job is too big for him. Day by day I’m noticing this! I use to be a big supporter but now I’m seeing what everyone else has been seeing all along . He should resign, bow out gracefully because this country is in shambles… the basic necessities of life are not available to us the citizens. The Gov has lost its way in a big way. Priorities are all wrong.
Urgency is a factor. He should be removed from his elected post NOW/ without haste.
His nonchalant gross neglect and poor judgment has been ongoing.
Our lives are in jeopardy.
His lack of good intentions has been brutal and unforgiving.
Be it intentional or a cerebral deficiency the current Premier should no longer be Premier of these VI.
.
ALL 13 MUST GO!
ALL 13 MUST GO!!
ALL 13 MUST GO!!
ALL 13 MUST GO!!
Home….
we are a 4th world country
Are you sure that we are that high on the list?
This water situation has been an ongoing issue for Paraquita Bay. I would suggest that the writer that the issue might be inked to the ongoing Road Works. If indeed it is then just a few more days before relief.
The roadworks have been going on since November 2024. They were supposed to done in 6mths. It is now March 2026, 16 months later and still not done, and you are saying ‘just a few more days’ to wait for water. Smh. You sound like one of the 13 that MUST go.
We have a CRISIS in the Virgin Islands.
The territory has been thrown into a crisis from day one after elections and placing this group into office, and the struggle has been relentless ever since..
Where did the billions of government revenue since 1995 go?
No water? 100k more for parties
Get a water tank and pump for the abattoir. This can happen today.
At VOZ LATINA we say it clearly: the potable water crisis in Tortola is no longer a technical issue—it’s a failure of responsibility. There can be no real development or public well-being when something as basic as water is unreliable.
But there is a line that must never be crossed: a slaughterhouse processing meat for human consumption must have a constant water supply. Without water there is no hygiene, without hygiene there is risk, and without proper sanitation, the entire population is exposed.
If this is being allowed today, then we must start preparing for something bigger. Public health crises don’t come suddenly—they are built through neglect.
VOZ LATINA will not stay silent.
We were able to establish portable water for the communities and built roads, now we can not even maintain them. Where are the 550 Million revenue per year going?
The abattoir has two big sisturn fill them up with water and call it George
Where is the director? Are people in tops roles taking responsibility?
OR WALWYN , OR CINDY, OR DEM ISLAND PEOPLE , ASUSUAL, SOMEBODY GOT TO GET THE “BLAME” NAT-AL-EO – ISN’T GOING TO TEK IT • SO THEY WILL HAVE TO FIND A WAY PIN IT ON THE WHITE COLONIALIST SLAVE MASTERS – AND THE WIGGED DUDE ON HIS YELLO SITE WILL EMBELLISH IT WITH HIS USUAL DRAMA TO SPICE UP HIS RACIST NARRATIVES •
The profound lack of interest in supplying water throughout the BVI is absolutely appalling. Time for every member of the HOA and Premier to tender their resignations, with immediate effect.
Lack of water is a national emergency and health hazard. It must be corrected NOW.
Questions: anyone know if BVI is selling water to cruise ships?
In Tórtola, water is indeed sold to cruise ships through the Water and Sewerage Department.
But that’s not the real question…
How is there water available for sale while communities still face constant shortages?
Water is not a privilege — it’s a basic right.
It must be guaranteed for the people first… then for business.
If the system can supply everyone, prove it. If not, fix it.
The abattoir being out of water is a simple fix,if you have a responsible director and a permanent Secretary the brings about positive changes which neither two so far has shown they have the ability to bring about. My understanding was that the director was told of the situation of no water at the abattoir and his immediate response was shut it down he is not buying any water. With an attitude like that he straight up needs to be fired. Theirs no motivation at thet department and that’s solely due to bad management.Note for the public he was placed there on political favor (Premier knows, do this for me and you will be rewarded with this ) button line one reaps what he sows.
Well said we need changes in Agriculture
I warned allu a very longtime ago now..Sorry I cannot help, i use to like the guy until he showed me his true colors.
How long has this water problem has been going on at Paraquita Bay?