Norwegian Cruise: BVI is great but the roads aren’t
Chief Development Officer of Norwegian Cruise Line, Dan Farkas has praised the natural beauty of the BVI but said the roads are “not in good shape,” taking away from the guest experience the territory offers.
Farkas’ comments were made at a press conference that the government hosted with Florida cruise line stakeholders who make frequent calls to the BVI. A member of the media asked Frakas what he thought of the territory’s infrastructure and guest experience and he replied:
“The country is absolutely beautiful, the waters are stunningly blue but you asked about infrastructure and I can tell you, just from my ride from the airport, the roads aren’t in great shape,” Frakas said frankly. “It could have been a cleaner ride in and it’s a distraction from the beauty. Our taxi driver had to play a little dodgeball with the potholes.”
As for guest experience, Farkas confessed that Norwegian guests enjoy the BVI and the plethora of activities that the territory offers. “The experience is great, the infrastructure not so much,” Frakas said.
Residents and tourism stakeholders have been calling on the government to upgrade the roadways and other infrastructure to save the reputation of the tourism product. Over the years, guests have also used social media to express their dissatisfaction with the dilapidated roadways and other infrastructure in the BVI.
At the press conference, Ports Minister Kye Rymer reiterated that the government is aware of the infrastructure woes and is working to improve it for residents and visitors. He said the government has frank discussions about the issues when they speak to cruise stakeholders at international conferences.
In the meantime, Frakas used the press conference to dispel rumours that Norwegian is displeased with the BVI and is pulling out of the destination. The rumours flourished after the cruise line cancelled five calls that were scheduled for the BVI in May and June.
“It was not because of any safety issues [with the BVI] or because of passengers absconding, it was a safety issue that slowed the vessel down. As soon as we heard about how the issue affected the BVI, we changed to another vessel and will now be making five additional calls on the BVI,” Frakas said as the audience applauded.
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Ya would think that this is kind of a wake-up call from one of our biggest tourism stake holders, but it won’t be. When is that music festival?
Maybe if thy fix the roads the taxi can drive faster and the tourists won’t see all the junk that is from one end of the island to the other.
Ohhhhhh look where the BVI gone………ohh, ohh, oh look where the BVI gone.
ZBVI Radio I need to hear that song please.
Vote for me I will fix this, vote for me I will fix that, I will fix everything. The other side saying they will fix it but don’t listen to them. Me and my party will fix everything.
Drain the Swamp, Its time for a change, its crystal clear, forward ever backwards never, the action man, a man of action, the lady with the bag, my people, my people.
Wellll sah, ohhhh look where the BVI gone.
Nothing more needs to be said – the BVI is beautiful and people enjoy coming here and spending their $$$. But the infrastructure is bad.
What frustrates people who know the BVI is that the country has had huge budget sums for the past 30 years and many comments from various governments that the infrastructure will be improved, yet very little has changed. So, please pardon us for being cynical when the present Government does what others have said and indicates that the issue is receiving their attention.
Where are the detailed plans for what will be done and when and how that will be funded? Without a clear vision and timetable, nothing will happen.
are you guys surprised? i born 94 and tortola roads been bad from i walking the street
we in 2024 and the place look like irma was couple months ago still but them want bring in cruise ships mind you now tourism our main income rather than the money laundering and drug dealing and they just dont care to fix up the place why only in the 2020’s them want to try redo side walk for wheel chair access this was to be done donkey years agooooo.. all the bvi people worry about is concerts and things that dont benefit the territory like what the hell is going on in you guys brains? y’all dont want better? this island is too small with too much money passing through it to look like a 3rd world country… anyways we have enough fest coming to think our mind off things.. drink up everybody! and remember to… drive safe…on these dangerous roads 🙂
Sounds like it takes someone from outside to make this point so that our Government will listen? But will they actually do anything? The roads here are a joke. When I used to complain about the roads to a friend (10+ years ago) his response was, “At least we have roads!” While we are glad to have roads, it’s not rocket science to build roads that last. Engineer the drains properly, spend the money once and you’ll have roads that last. It’s been done time and again across the Caribbean. Of course with the water system the way it is, even good roads will have to be ruined by repeated digging to replace leaky pipes. The leaky water system is simply another well-known issue that none of our Governments have bothered to solve. Perhaps because politicians have a vested interest in the water plants that have to make twice as much water as is actually consumed to make up for the leaks? It would be so very nice to have a Government in place that actually put together a long term plan with a vision to correct these issues, and others, that have long plagued our beloved Territory.
Oh well
BVI roads “not in good shape”
It’s not a secret anymore.
Bad roads = bad publicity = reduced tourists = no business.
FIX ALL THE ROADS!!!!!
Kye is a major disappointment but why are we shocked? We expect to elect persons who never managed a candy shop in their life, to manage hundreds of millions of dollars and hundreds of people. It’s impossible. We all have to start somewhere yes, but we shouldn’t be putting these green (pun intended) people to run major things when they have never done anything in their lives. Politicians got away with this behavior when we were flushed with cash to dole out. Now that things have tightened up, the wind blow their skirts up and their entire a** is on display.
fix the roads. invest finances into fixing repairing and improving the roads and the infrastructure or else you will take away the tourism industry which has been the one of the main pillars of the bvi economy for decades to go downhill. why spoil the natural beauty of the bvi without investing the time and finances into road construction and building infrastructure?
This is what happens when you vote for your cousin or for a party not caring if they can actually do the job or not.
@hmm…
Comment of the day.
You know, I wish that that cruise line statement, will make a difference!
It won’t!
As long as de facto engineers- mama,papa, sister, and cousin, CONTINUE, to be the ones spearheading these projects, we will have more of the same!
Interestingly, those same cruise officials are here in St Thomas, and has never made such claims!
Here, we know our strengths, and our weaknesses. And, where we are weak, we ask experts-credentialed, and lettered, to solve our problems!
THIS, is where this country, needs to go!
This is soooo disappointing to say the least.
“It could have been a cleaner ride in and it’s a distraction from the beauty. Our taxi driver had to play a little dodgeball with the potholes.
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We know this already. How many times do we have to complain? This is like inviting someone to your home and it’s not clean or presentable yet we invite them.
BVI government: Clean your house. Do better!
…it could have been a cleaner ride in isn’t only referring to the roads! The place is a mess and we’ve been saying it over and over. Even the Deputy Premier who is a Government Minister is saying it but nothing is changing. If she can’t get through to them and she’s on the inside, we are screwed. Where is the help going to come from? We cannot continue like this!
BVI government will party on. Nothing will change. If anything, perhaps a patchwork of repairs that won’t last long that a well connected person will charge ridiculous amounts to send ill equipped and trained persons to do. Norwegian will later have a legitimate reason to say no more to the BVIs after saying we told you to clean the place up.
Just to let you know our Priemer is going to fix the road before Music Fest 2024. It is a major boost for our Tourism Product.
never put a boy to do a man’s JOB / and now we are seeing the boyz mentality playing itself out , so it was to be expected ( probably that’s why the position of (deputy premier) was rotated , perhaps it was to let the youths get a feel of how it feels to walk in a big man’s shoes , but the coach didn’t get to train them properly ,because
, HE had had HIS own little HUSTLE ( GINE-ON ) on the side , which backfired, and they were left to do * THEIR OWN TING * AND it’s exactly what they
are doing ( THEIR OWN TING ), SO ☆INFRASTRUCTURE
☆ IS NOT THEIR KIND OF THING . but if you talking about ,SQUANDERING OUR TAXPAYERS MONEY / TRAVELLING ALL AROUNG THE WORLD & FREE JAMZ ETC , THEN YOU WILL BE TALKING THEIR KIND OF LANGUAGE
The roads used to get repaved before every election (the timing there is probably just coincidental ).
I think we’ve gone three elections now without any sign of new tarmac going down.
The last time Sea Cows Bay saw new pavement, the Hon. Mr. Fraser was the minister in charge of that (Also probably just coincidental ).
The Hon. Mr. Rymer has been minister for works for what, 5 years? Minister, WAKE UP! The roadways are reaching the point of no return!!!
Bragadag!
my neck, my back…bragadag! Back to the cruise ship for me.
Well this is embarrassing. Windy Hill, where the tour buses drive on everyday still looks like a bomb went off 7 years after Irma.
Get a Helicopter to take them from the Airport to Pier Park. Then the Roads would be bad without being noticed snd our Roads won’t make international news as amongst tbe worse roads in the world..
How can you look great if your face is Bumpy like our Roads, your belly hanging over your stomach like the Trees at the side of the Roads and your hair like dirty wild locks like the hanging bushes.. .tell them stop lying. BVI not attractive.
Better roads = better flow = better economy #fortheworkingcommunity #forthepeople
Ok the white man said what we have been saying for years. Now watch how fast these step and fetch trained negros get the roads fixed……we been saying it for years but now that the white man said it these field hands will finally fix it. Thank you white man for if you don’t say it, it is not a priority…….Now mention you want to go to horse racing……
Did anybody hear that???
We know the roads are terrible and YES – fix them now!
But what else did he say? What was the main point he say?
That the BVI has beautiful nature.
BEAUTIFUL NATURE.
So, please, why are BVIslanders with power intent on destroying that nature?
Even the dirty mass-tourism cruise ships appreciate the one thing that we have going for us is OUR NATURE.
So we need to stop this set of thieves from taking our nature and building concrete on it, land filling it, crushing it under hi Mac, polluting it, over crowding it and generally disrespecting the one natural resource we have. Kill that and we have nothing!
Please, we need to put nature front and centre of all our future planning.
Something sinister is at play.
This is elementary ongoing,everyday housecleaning.
Something just is not right.
Daily there are signs and reminders of the reality.
BVI is in free fall.
All aspect of functioning is in collapse.
I am now 70 years old. The roads have never gotten any priority in my time. No government has ever placed placed infrastructure as priority one, none.
I have had multiple vehicles ruined by those roads.
The runing of government and Public Works will never improve.
It will take a nationwide drastic and punitive revolution to manifest the type of change needed in this territory.
And that drastic and punitive revolution must include a decision by every single person to make a personal sacrifice.
That sacrifice must include the shutting down of the country. Every manand woman jack strike and shut down the government.
However, such will not occur without great organization. Which is why we need to unionize. No, not the like thelame duck Teachers Uion we have, but a real Union with teeth and clout.
No work force in the history of mankind has never achieved anything without being organized and unionized.
I rest here for now.
These Government officials have no shame. Sat in that press conference in their fancy clothes with big smiles and not one ounce of shame. Five plus full years in office and little to nothing in the community to show for it yet they get their big salaries every month.
“It could have been a cleaner ride”. He ain’t talking potholes, he talking the s**t house conditions found everywhere here since residents a f**king slobs. Theme the facts. Place is a sh*th*Le and locals too blind to see or smell.
Talking about a cleaner ride, another eye sore is the unkept bushes at the side of the road.
Particularly, the drive from above elevator road towards to foot sage mountain, why is the overgrown shrubs NEVER proned?
I paid attention last time workers trimmed all along that north road and specifically missed this part.
Why is that HON Mitch?
Was that even noticed?
Taxi filled with tourists use this road daily once a ship is in.
I feel so bad for the artist who did a beautiful job on the murale wall but sadly his work is covered by the bushes and this doesnt compliment it well.
BVI it looks like we are slowly loosing tourism as one of our main pillars. We are not taking care of it and seem as if again we do not care.
Wow Joe’s Hill Estate could of paved a lot of roads.
Tourism is 1/2 the VI economic twin pillars and infrastructure, ie, roads, etc., is the lifeblood which carries the oxygen of the tourism industry. Consequently, the Norwegian Cruise line comment on the state of the roads is a severe body blow, and infrastructure shaming. The VI roads are poorly designed, constructed, maintained and repaired and poorly drained. For example, potholes are a constant complaint of road users. All roads developed potholes and potholes can be managed. The repair of the state of the deteriorated roads are not insurmountable, though the design and construction may not be resolved in the near term. Nevertheless, potholes and other maintenance and repair can resolved satisfactorily in the near term.
My suggestion would be to do the following:
a. Procure 3 Heat Free Pothole Patchers ( 2 for Tortola ; 1 for Virgin Gorda). Regular trucks can suffice in the interim;
b. Establish 1-2 pothole crews ( 3-4 workers) for Tortola; 1 crew for Virgin Gorda, and 1 crew for Anegada;
c. Establish two pothole inspectors for Tortola; 1 for VG(
d. Establish minimum time for fixing potholes, eg, 24 hours during weekdays, etc.;
e. Establish dedicated pothole reception line.
Moreover, the Throw and Go method is for emergencies. For other potholes repair, the hole should be cleaned out, squared up, asphalt placed, and compacted/tamped. For a full depth repair, the failed area should be excavated down to the subgrade.
Further, for the longer term, the VI needs to develop and implement a road master plan, entailing cross sections with a definite life, construction procedures, maintenance and repair procedures,, etc. The master plan must include proper drainage procedures. Poor drainage shortens the life of a road, resulting in premature failures. The roads are too flat ( no crown, improper slope). Crown it and Drain it. It is not rocket science or biochemistry.
@E. Leonard, “ Crown and Drain” it. That is real talk for road designers, constructors, and users. Progressive realism on tourism is quantitative and qualitative infrastructure but the idealism cannot be empty. No one will embrace the realism if the if the idealism lacks concrete progress.. To me, you provide a simple, short term plan of action for addressing the vexing pothole problem, especially vehicle owners. The Only premier and MCW needs to embrace the pothole and road construction master plan. The good thing is the advice is free and not costing taxpayers anything. Howver, if it is ignored, it will continue to cost all of us in time, money, frustration, etc.
Boy had we better roads, we would have had more crimes. Down Islands have better roads and more crimes.