Walwyn slams Trellis Bay ‘matchbox’ rest stop
Sixth District Representative Myron Walwyn has blasted the recently commissioned Trellis Bay Rest Stop on Beef Island, describing it as inadequate and unfit for purpose.
Walwyn’s comments come amid ongoing discussions about the facility’s effectiveness in serving both residents and visitors.
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley officially opened the Trellis Bay Rest Stop, which is intended to enhance the experience for travellers in the area. The facility provides shelter and seating for up to 50 people, including seven ADA-compliant seats for individuals with disabilities. Premier Wheatley hailed it as a “symbol of the BVI’s progress and resilience,” emphasising the government’s commitment to improving the territory’s tourism infrastructure.
However, Walwyn expressed complete dissatisfaction with the project’s outcome. “[The government was] up there proud, you know,” Walwyn said. “I was shame like a dog. I felt shame for y’all because it tells me that we have lost our way.”
“You have Virgin Gorda as the gem of your tourism product,” Walwyn said, referring to the fact that visitors would travel from the rest stop to the sister island. “And you’re going to build a matchbox up there to put down? It’s a matchbox you build up there. Why couldn’t we do something proper? A proper facility?”
Walwyn previously decried the inadequate conditions at Trellis Bay, where travellers were often forced to seek shelter under trees or makeshift arrangements while awaiting transportation. “People are going to Trellis Bay. When you get to Trellis Bay, what do you get? You’re under a tree sitting down,” Walwyn remarked, questioning why a more substantial facility wasn’t constructed.
The project, managed by the Virgin Islands Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), was awarded to No Limit Construction Services with a contract valued at $271,279.67. The one-storey, open-air structure was completed on schedule, just in time for the tourist season. RDA Chief Executive Officer Anthony McMaster noted that the development is part of a broader initiative to enhance the aesthetics and functionality of the Trellis Bay area.
Despite these efforts, Walwyn remained critical of the facility’s scale and design. He argued that the rest stop does not adequately address the needs of the ferry passengers and tourists using Trellis Bay as a transit point. “You have millionaires coming in, going to Virgin Gorda,” Walwyn stated. “You have the Virgin Gorda community as well, and y’all put a matchbox up there and think you’re doing good? And then up there giving speech and smiling. We’ve got to be better than this.”
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
271k dollars for that match box? We really cannot be serious in this country.
“Can fit up to 50 persons”. Where??? I am with the 6th Rep on this.
50 people where? I guess they are going to be packed up like sardines in a NYC subway car at rush hour. What about the passengers that have luggage that needs to be put down until they board the ferry to their destination I’m speaking about both tourist and locals that have to utilize the ferry.
The building illustrates everything that is wrong around here. A bad design, shoddy construction, and an absurd price. Only good news is that they appear to have finished it on time. Yet another reminder that proper planning prevents poor performance.
Cost of materials gone up sky high. Also the labor cost. So indeed right now a matchbox like that will cost something like that.
Why is the Tourist Board building and managing facilities like this? The purpose assigned to them under the legislation, and therefore their authority to spend our taxpayer money is solely to market the tourism product. When you get advertisers to run projects like this this is what happens.
That is soooooooo embarrassing. It looks like a goat shed.why is it that in the BVI you guys always put up these sub par looking S. No wonder we are laughing stocks.WELCOME CENTER? You all have to do better than this. A DARN GOAT SHED. A HUGE EMBARRASSMENT AND EYE SORE.
You should check out the one that is on Anegada. It IS a goat shed.
It looks like a sardine can. If that is a wheel chair ramp, that is not even wide enough to accommodate a wheel chair. Shame on the whole lot of you.
Thank you Myron for calling it as it is. This building is a shame. It’s looks ridiculous and it cost 271,000? We got to be nuts in this place.
MEDIOCRE is the word
No, that is what raking off of the top and deals behind closed doors look like.
how inside look? i can only imagine when it rains…. which would be the main point to not get wet and avoid weather conditions but from how its faced and enclosed like the one at road town ferry wharf
where the seats? a few seats for all the traffic that occurs up there?
i appreciate that bathroom i just hope them maintain and keep it clean like pier park
where the cctv cameras tho? too much unregistered boats passing that area to have cameras up?
That building has been up less than a month and the signage on the front is already falling off? Not good advertising for that construction company…
The building design lacks ambition but beyond that the quality of the finish is poor. Please observe the floor drains in the female bathrooms, the tiling surround looks like a home DIY amateur attempting tiling for the first time. Why no ceiling fans to keep ventilation flowing and mosquitos moving? The surrounding area has barely been landscaped or finished.
Why did no one consider placing some information boards about the history and culture of the islands or info on the wildlife and environment? Why no maps? Why no displays of ferry times, taxi or useful visitor info?
Hot concrete when the sun’s shining, soaking wet when it’s raining
No gutters, could of saved the water for flushing
Two bathrooms and a porch is all you get for 271K in the BVI???
BVI really don’t know how to put colours together. And why every building got the same ugly cheap looking windows and doors. Oh yeah, y’all said these things wasn’t important to the BVI economy. If it wasn’t for sun, sand and sea the tourists wouldn’t bother coming to this sh1thole. The whole BVI looks ugly because government pick the same architect with no sense of style. Only the Caucasian People establishments look like they make sense. Government needs to be sued for this eyesore.
This should have been much bigger and more accommodating…….for locals first. Bitch now.
I would have designed an upper deck style lookout, like the old airport, families would come just to spend time as an outing. Then you have aviation lovers who can take pictures of the planes passing after they land. San Juan airport has something similar where it’s a daily chore for family get together.
Install Large glass so people can see their ferry and the water front instead of an enclosed prison look. We give away money for that piece of garbage, if I was a contractor or whoever designed that, I would be embarrassed. That really what you got paid to do? Anguilla, smaller than us has a bigger tourism appeal than us!
I suppose the writing on the building says it all. It’s cause we’re Effed.
where doing the bare minimum is applauded. lets just wait for a private entity to build a proper “welcoming / transitioning center”.
Welcome T E F Island? What the heck is that? What an ugly piece of construction for quarter of a million dollars. I wouldn’t buy that if they sell it for $3,000. Maybe for $999 max. What an expensive load of rubbish. You all must stop this nonsense. I feel so shame.
Everything that government do, they do it at the lowest standard of mediocre. The roads thousands of dollars spent but you can’t see the money. Nothing looks finished. We have a market square where thousands of dollars spent but is not in use because it’s inefficient. What a substandard set of people governing our affairs. Ever went to the bathroom at the West End jetty? It is so small that you can’t fit yourself inside. These morons travel at our expense and bring nothing back to enhance or benefit the territory in any way. I am ashamed to be a Virgin Islander. We are full speed on the move going Backwards. God help us.
Those windows is a total embarrassment who uses those type of windows? Y’all got jipped by the contractor.
Sponge Bob square pants?
Sponge Bob square pants house in bikini bottom under the sea looks much better than that goat shed. They need to get a refund from the contractor. That is damn embarrassing and a big eye sore. The contractor and whomever approved this sub par mess should hang their head in shame. Common sense should have kicked in and tell the contractor the bathrooms should have been on the side or the back of the goat shed.
One good heavy rain and some heavy wind, the whole plucking thing is going to flood and come crashing down. Who is the SUB PAR CONTRACTOR THAT BUILD THE GOAT SHED FOR $271,000. Damnnnnnnn.
Looks like a public toilet, even has the two doors.
That place is a joke and and an embarrassment to the BVI. What poor planning and oversight of what is really needed. The bathroom doors should never face the seated public, they should be around the side or back of the building. Over 200K for an outhouse, you got to be kidding…
Our best skills on show. Doors to the toilet dont even fit so you cant close them. We paybthis contractor yet??? Nedd to move them to fixing roads where they would fit right in. Get paid big time too, for a bad job. This territory going to the donkeys.
whilst Walwyn’s point are very much valid, let us not forget when the NDP was in power, they also built similar match boxes for the hundreds of thousands of dollars. let us not forget the ugly painted bathroom at the noel lloyd park. The paint was such an eyesore that they repainted it immediately after it dried.
I aint for no party. UK need to flush them all out and start back fresh after 2 years of restructuring.
Of the beach huts that was supposed to be a market square another embarrassment.
EVEN THE SIGN THAT THEY CRAZY GLUE ON
THE SHED IS FALLING OFF. WELCOME TO T E F ISLAND. I agree, some heavy rain and wind the whole thing is going to collapse. HOY Y’ALL DO PEOPLE LIKE THAT?