RDA not equipped to pave 38 miles of road
Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer has indicated that the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) doesn’t have the expertise to pave some 38 miles of roads that the government has identified on Tortola, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda.
Minister Rymer made the statement in the House of Assembly after D8 Representative Marlon Penn asked him why the RDA wasn’t commissioned to deliver the project which is valued at over $30 million.
In response, Minister Rymer said the aim was to engage a road engineering firm to oversee the project in coordination with his ministry and the Public Works Department.
“It’s understood that there isn’t enough technical capacity and experience in the public service, particularly in road engineering to oversee and manage a project of this magnitude,” Rymer explained. “Both the ministry and the RDA would have to rely on external resources to provide engineering and management services. It was best felt to initiate such works through the ministry.”
Minister Rymer also revealed that only one company submitted a proposal to take on the road repair project and the ministry is currently reviewing the submission.
The RDA is a government agency, formed to rebuild critical infrastructure after the 2017 hurricanes. The aim was to dissolve it after all its assigned projects were delivered. However, due to the agency’s success, the government passed legislation to extend the life of the RDA to December 2026.
There have been calls from elected leaders and some residents for the RDA to take over problematic services – like water distribution – that the government is failing to deliver successfully.
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Oh please!!!
We are not talking about building a rocket and flying to the moon here.
All these down island boys know how to fix a road. Why not hire them (at minimum wage) and fix road? When people that live here full time talk nonsense like this, they have they hand in the cookie jar!
30 MILLION. To fix 38 miles of road? The job is FIX the road, this can not be taken seriously. We are all fools if we believe this nonsense!
He is correct that neither the RDA or the PWD have the in house technical expertise. But the RDA is a project manager and not a contractor. Its expertise is in specifying the works, seeking tenders, analysing the tenders for price, quality and ability, and then supervising performance so that the job is done properly and on budget. It is really good at that function. PWD does not have any of that expertise, but is subject to political influence by politicians!
Why doesn’t the Minister want to use the RDA?
always the same old……
Nothing changes for the better.
SPINNING TOP IN MUD ~ aka ~ going around in circles , we all know those jokers are lackadaisical ( first) & second , they don’t know B , from bulls foot, so use your imagination
And real roads cost $1million per mile inclusive of proper drainage and sidewalks, painting, reflectors ect. So they already off to a bad start with the pricing.
The opportunity was presented to Govt, when they were looking for paving equipment and asphalt plants a few ago. A Germany company that bid on the said equipment represented locally, were willing to pave 1 mile of road for free just to prove that using the latest technologies all the roads could have been rebuilt at 1/2 the cost and be done in 6 months. They were told NO you will take bread out of a local mouth.
So one man stop the roads from being rebuilt to professional standards because he won’t get a eat.
He eating every day and still can’t get it right after all the buffets he been eating from.
POLITICS WILL KILL THIS COUNTRY!
Didn’t Autland pave the fish bay road and it is working as it showed?
Shovel it on top pat it down get paid wait for the next rain repeat process very profitable.
Who did Anegada Roads? Concrete the roads and let’s go. Asphalt isn’t the only solution. Put proper drainage and cast the roads!
These people really dumb. If the government departments are short staff spend the money to build them up for the project ie scale up and down accordingly.
That’s why this place broke, we keep voting in stupid greedy corrupt people into Government. Did Premier S!0w W@nde study finance, economics or ever sell anything to anybody in his life who wasn’t related to him?
Big Du**ie, It cost more to retain third parties to do something for you, rather than do it yourself.
The RDA has been completing projects on time and on budget something the ministry and public works don’t know anything about. I would feel so much better if RDA was dealing with it. Just watch you see that 30 million gonna get spent and we lucky if we actually get some of what was promised.
They do not want to use the RDA because the Ministers/Government would have no control over contracts and money!
Autland did an excellent job in Fish Bay and that road has survived multiple floods etc. and it’s still standing firm, no cracks, asphalt affixed to date. Stop making excuses and fix the f**king place!
If Fish Bay road is a model of good road to you guys you all don’t know what’s a good road .
Only 38 miles of roads across three islands? How do we come to such a low figure? Is that a misprint? A typo? More like maybe 238 miles?
I believe the Hon. Mr. Rymer and his predecessors have ignored road repairs for so long and to such an extent that we’ve now reached “the point of no return”. Basically, it’s difficult to find a stretch of road that is not in need of repair and repaving in the territory.
$30 million for 38 miles? Must be paving in gold.
We was gonna go with 24 karat but our 100k consultants said it would be best to go with 18 karat as it is more durable and cost effective lol.
More drivel and nonsense for the people of the BVI to swallow. Where’s the pork…?
Is not free from political influence! The RDA that was setup after the storms is not the same now. It is more of another layer that other government agencies have capacities to accomplish if they had good leadership. Locally, there are engineers who are more than capable to design, PM, and ensure value for money. But the rub is politics and kickbacks that even the professional expats (melanated and non) have assimilated to you since it is the norm for how to do business with BVIGOV!
Take the West End ferry terminal for example. It does not fit in with the surrounding developments and will be a maintenance nightmare. Government officials have no clue about urban planning and override the technocrats each and every time due to their over-inflated egos. Hence, the population suffers from bad policies and governance.
if drains aren’t maintained.
On Tuesday afternoon I was at [supermarket near Port Purcell]. When the ceiling started falling, I decided to leave and borrowed someone’s unbrella (apparently [they] doesn’t keep any) to get my groceries in my truck. I was parked next to a storm drain and the water coming down the hill was flowing UP, through the drains filling the parking lot and causing a rise in water of 5 or 6 inches during the few minutes I moved some bags from the cart.
By the time I got to the road, the water flowing up through the storm drains had filled the road causing lower cars to stall in the floodwater.
What’s the sense in fixing the roads without investing in a drain maintenance schedule?
Please look at the work done outside the Park. This still has not finished and is a mess. The road foundation was not done correctly. I think there is no experience here to build roads so an overseas company is the only option.
Im sure the RDA has people to oversea these works and control a project of this size. When government dont want to give to people we start asking questions?
enjoy your last days. we need hands on people to run this tiny nation. Kye is one of the best DMV directors but fail miserably as minister of public works. Then we have uncle Fraser who don’t know all the roads in his district. all these folk becomes liabilities to their constituents by not representing and fix simple potholes.
i travel allot and the roads here are the worse in the Caribbean . as a tourist destination the govt should have a keen eye on beatification and curb appeal especially road from airport to town and town itself. there are many studies that proven that poor infrastucture can lead to social degradation of a society.
He knows who is getting the contract. Kick back time. Do we people in this territory fear God?
If my memory serves me correctly, the 4-lane highway was built entirely by local engineers. The same 4-lane highway is arguably the one major road (noticed I said major) that has held up well over time. Almost 30 years later since it was built, and we have supposedly moved forward in technology and human expertise, what am I missing here when I read “It’s understood that there isn’t enough technical capacity and experience in the public service, particularly in road engineering to oversee and manage a project of this magnitude,”? Can somebody help me out here because me don’t overstand.
38 miles is a misprint. Article should read 38 meters
Public your nor your Ministry don’t have the expertise either, all those two departments are doing is wasting the tax payers money doing a wack of f**kery!
I wonder if some of you people that post on this newsite have any proper level of education; sounds like a bunch of high school drop outs pretending to be smart.