Premier on flooding: ‘Some built homes in wrong areas’
Following recent severe flooding in Road Town that caused extensive damage to public and private infrastructure, Premier Natalio Wheatley has pointed to improper construction in areas prone to water flow as a contributing factor to the problem.
Heavy rainfall had inundated roadways, rendering key thoroughfares impassable and causing significant flooding in residential areas. The Premier noted that some homes have been built in vulnerable areas, such as near dry ghuts, which are natural water channels.
“Some persons, let’s be honest, they built in the wrong areas,” Premier Wheatley stated. “The areas where they are, they’re in the pathway of the water. If you go and build in a ghut or something like that, a dry ghut, you know, sometimes those things have consequences.”
He also attributed Road Town’s persistent flooding issues to its location in a basin surrounded by hills and noted that land reclamation efforts have disrupted natural water flow to the sea. “We reclaimed land. Sometimes we don’t even run the ghuts out to the sea,” he said.
To address these challenges, the Premier stressed the importance of resilience planning and mitigation strategies, referencing a hydrology study completed by the Ministry of Communications and Works as a critical step in tackling the problem.
The frequent flooding has also taken a toll on local businesses. Shaina Smith-Archer, Chairman of the BVI Chamber of Commerce, called for immediate measures, including better maintenance of drains and ghuts, to mitigate the impact. She noted that businesses face significant financial losses due to flooding, with insurance often too costly to provide relief.
Premier Wheatley emphasized the need for proactive planning and smarter construction practices to build a more resilient society, particularly given the territory’s vulnerability to extreme weather and hurricanes.
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Maybe so. However look at blocked drains. Some have plants growing in them. Some blocked for years.
Town planning approved them under the ministry headed by him
Those places were built long before Natalio was Premier. The weather is only now exposing the results if the developments in the Road Town area.
it’s tcp fault for approving those homes to be built in those areas
you mean, BVI, when it’s run by you??
Just like the high school where the electrical infrastructure was placed below grade? No allowance for drainage?
Put proper engineers in your departments with people who can say no to relatives and friends. Can also mandate sufficient parking on property.
Sir no one has the right to build anywhere without Town and Country Planning giving the go ahead. So should they be blamed and made to compensate homeowners in flood prone areas? Areas for which you are required to provide proper drainage?
What can you expect when there are no ZONING LAWS in the BVI.
The Premier is right. Everybody wants to do what they want, re-route guts, ignore Town Planning etc., now deal with it!
I see a potential flooding problem in Duff Bottom….Somebody is allowed to fill in the pond at a higher level than the road….No where for the water to go with the insufficient drains that already exist
Get the freaking infrastructure up to standards. Just the other day a car hit the big boulder left on the side of the road up Elevator Road, then suddenly the rock disappeared after the accident. the roads are like death traps we are trying to avoid on daily basis. May i kindly recommend assigning a police officer to regulate the traffic, in the morning, down Joe’s hill and Bellevue? What a f* mess
Premier is right. Especially all of those houses built along purcell ghut. Can’t blame tcp and government as these were build back in the good old days.
of TCP restrictions on building anywhere in the BVI so flooding after any rain will always be a problem. No forseeable resolution with this party prone government.