The longstanding East End/Long Look sewerage issue may soon come to an end with the re-commencement of the project. Nine months ago the Government of the Virgin Islands had announced that the project once started, will be resolved within a year to the tune of $6,142,500.
The recent recommencement was revealed by Premier and Minister of Finance, Honorable Andrew Fahie via a Facebook post that stated “Thanks to the Ministry of Finance and the Minister of Works, Honorable Kye Rymer and his Ministry, after years of delays, your Government, today, has restarted the long over due East End/Long Look Sewage Project on Tortola, BVI.”
Representative for the 7th District, Dr. the Honorable Natalio Wheatley expressed his excitement for the recommencement while noting that this has been a sore issues for decades.
“I was highly pleased to see the recommencement of the East End/Long Look sewerage project. As we all know, this project was put on the side for a very long time. The previous administration took the money allocated for this project and they put it into the Pier Park, leaving the EE/LL community swimming in sewage. So now is the time to have this project completed because the people of EE/LL and their health is a huge priority for this administration and we look forward to this project moving towards completion.”
Dr. Wheatley also spoke to BVI Electricity building resilience within the district, in the event of natural disasters.
“We also have a good aspect of the project that has just commenced where electricity will be burying their cables which will provide greater resilience to our electricity infrastructure. So in the case of a storm where poles are knocked down or things of that nature, we will still have power. So this is progress for the people of EE/LL 7th & 8th district communities.”
Residents have long complained about the chronic sewerage issue that spans across the territory.
Earlier year, Chief Environmental Officer, Lionel Michael had shared concerns noting “in a given week, we get about four to five reports of various complaints. The odor that comes from the inadequately treated sewerage in the communities is discomforting for people but there are no reported cases of waterborne or foodborne diseases as a result of this. But, yes, it is a major threat”.
Under the last administration $8million was allocated to fix the East End/Long Look Sewage problem. However, the funds were eventually transferred to the Cruise Pier Project bringing the sewerage resolve to a halt.
The project has been politically terminated several times through successive governments. Before entering into public office, CEO of Caribbean Basin Enterprises Limited, Carvin Malone, secured a contract for the East End/Long Look project under the VIP administration, but that contract was terminated in 2006 under the NDP.
NDP contracted Global Water for the treatment of the sewerage water on September 19th, 2006; however, when the VIP regained Governance, the contract was not executed.
Instead, BI-Water was contracted and eventually built the sewerage treatment plant located in Paraquita Bay.
Global Water sued the Government for breach of contract to the tune of $30 million and subsequently won the case last year.