Over $200M needed to upgrade, rehabilitate BVI’s infrastructure
Works Minister Kye Rymer said estimates indicate that the cost to repair, upgrade and rehabilitate the BVI’s infrastructure will likely exceed more than $200 million.
Rymer shared those estimates during a press conference late last week to update residents on the state of various projects within his ministry.
Among the projects he outlined as being under various stages of completion were the Road Town improvement programme; the East End/Long Look sewerage project; the Frenchman’s Cay Bridge; the Cane Garden Bay sewerage project; the Carrot Bay sea defence project; the Ralph T. O’Neal Administration Complex rehabilitation and the Road Town market square.
Several of these projects, Rymer explained, were due to be completed before the end of the year.
Addressing the issue of funding, Minister Rymer explained that the funds received for capital projects are usually the surplus of the recurrent expenditure in the budget estimates and the territory’s revenue collection.
This surplus, he said, is also shared between all ministries, which usually have competing priorities.
Rymer, who serves as the Fifth District Representative, shared that many requests for assistance for undermining roads, walls and other needs throughout the districts are usually received by his ministry, whether they are made through district representatives or from residents directly.
He said this requires that his ministry prioritises the various requests to meet the needs of all residents. According to the minister, there are also ongoing works in upgrading the territory’s water network distribution system.
“This has been an ongoing process to ensure that we can provide 24/7 water supply to all residents. Over the years, we have made repairs to various reservoirs,” the minister said.
He further disclosed that three additional reservoirs were constructed through the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) in the areas of Long Bush, Carrot Bay and Zion Hill.
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Brother, our systems across the board regarding utilities is so antiquated there is no way you’ll upgrade for less than $400 million (and that is wishful thinking). The electric grid alone has so many complexities from functionality to imminent domain of land that must be acquired to make the system robust.
Then I dare not even venture into sewer and potable water.
I like your thinking and forward vision knowing this needs to be done, but my goodness this is a huge and very expensive problem!
We must plan, and this conversation hopefully will bring us better days!
off-grid Solar to the world, enough with electricity
Then why didn’t the VIP took the offer from the UK?
After an at-large member has already collected millions and millions over the years for sewage works. Happy days are ahead! Then we wonder why the young people don’t give a f**k about anything?
No government can take the UK offer because the requirement to access the funds, which would put the government in default of the financial protocols, is to present a feasible five year plan to return to compliance.
The only way to return to compliance is to reduce the government payroll.
One easy way is to put all employees on Social Security for retirement benefits, which would reduce the payroll by over 50% given that the government pension plan hasn’t been funded and retirees are just kept on the payroll.
Putting ALL government on SS, including elected officials, GSB employees, etc., would result in increased income for SS and the ability to raise the retirement benefit amount. Sure, government will have to give SS money to compensate for the years of non-payment, but it would allow future governments the ability to borrow for the infrastructure projects we desperately need.
Our quality-of-life is steadily declining with the application of band-aids to infrastructure instead of replacement. Vote for a future in the next election, not handouts!
You have no idea what you are talking about. It is a pity that you wasted five minutes of your life to type something that you have no knowledge of except what a few untruthful politicians would have told you so that you could spread the crap for them. Do you know that you wil never get back those five minutes again in life? Stop making these untruthful politicians give you a basket to carry water up a hill. The VIP is not telling the truth on the loan guarantee. The truth is that they wanted to be the ones controlling the money. That is a fact!
So I wonder how or where the Government could get access to the significant sums of money badly needed for these projects in times of unprecedentedly low and stable interest rates….
This place needs to rebuild quickly because in its current state I f something else was to happen Father God help us. We in trouble
Build up the VI with folks having something to bring to the table.
Building with theneer do well is counter productive and counter intuitive.
Unless
there is an ulterior motive….
that’s where the drug lords comes in ( along with the casino / weed and the wiged one can fill you in on the rest. thats plan B
Missing that loan. What an incredibly poor choice that was!
We won’t generate that kind of money by importing and installing thousands of the poor from elsewhere and everywhere, All we can do as a result is build alms houses and soup kitchens.
Kapiche?
“Will likely exceed $ 200m”: what does that mean? $400 million, a billion?