Roads Project contracted out; PWD lacks capacity—Hon Vanterpool

-says Ministry will instead focus on potholes

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A badly damaged section of road on Tortola following the devastation in 2017. Photo: VINO/File

The Ministry for Communication and Works, headed by Honourable Mark H. Vanterpool, (R4), has decided to contract out its road development project and instead focus on ‘patching potholes.’ Photo: VINO/File

ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – The Ministry for Communication and Works, headed by Honourable Mark H. Vanterpool, (R4), has decided to contract out, its road development project and instead focus on ‘patching potholes.’

This was disclosed to legislators, by Hon Vanterpool, when the House of Assembly (HoA) met on Tuesday, January 15, 2019.

He was at the time responding to questions formally posed in the HoA by District Three Representative, Honourable Julian Fraser, RA., who was querying, “when the badly needed repairs to the Sea Cows Bay Chalwell Road are going to be carried out?”

Comprehensive Plan

Hon Fraser, along with other legislators were instead told that, “given the current state of the Territory’s roads, the Government has opted to introduce a Comprehensive Road Re-development Programme.”

According to Hon Vanterpool, “the Public Works Department does not have the capacity to design and properly upgrade the Territory’s roads.”

As such, Cabinet recently approved a major contract, for a professional company to design a complete road network for the Territory.

He said, that as the various designs are completed, bids will be issued locally, regionally and internationally, through the Recovery Development Agency (RDA), for the major road works.

According to the Minister, “in the meantime, the Public Works Department has started repairing the various potholes throughout the territory.”

He said, “a request is presently before Cabinet for funding to do temporary overlays over the next three months across the islands.”

12 Responses to “Roads Project contracted out; PWD lacks capacity—Hon Vanterpool ”

wow (16/01/2019, 10:04) Like (24) Dislike (2) Reply
Bullcrap! Don't we have capable Engineers and Leadership within this Department to carry out the intended purposes of Public Works Dept. They not cleaning ghuts, they not clearing roadsides, they can't build retaining walls, they can't fix roads, they only could fill in pot holes(temporary). WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
confused (16/01/2019, 10:20) Like (17) Dislike (0) Reply
After the hurricane monies were allocated to do a temporary fix on the road which I found was BS. Now he saying again a temporary fix will be done until after consulting and the qualified persons are contracted to fix the roads. Enough of this damm consulting that’s all we get from the NDP and no action. At the end of consulting they all go home with there pockets full and we the people are left with nothing only debt that we and our children will be paying.
Hrmph (16/01/2019, 10:29) Like (13) Dislike (3) Reply
The problem is not just in the Public Works, but is a lack of capability in the BVI. All the roads that have been built locally only last a few months before the first pot holes appear.
Worried... (16/01/2019, 12:06) Like (10) Dislike (1) Reply
It's only a matter of time until someone is seriously hurt on the "Elevator Hill" near Nanny Cay - it's now down to less than 1 vehicle wide on the steepest part. Local residents appear to have currently taken it into their own hands to keep it safe for the public. Where is PWD? What are they waiting for? A headline of an accident in the press?
facts (16/01/2019, 12:13) Like (8) Dislike (0) Reply
I agree with the minister we have a serious problem accepting the truth two governments over the past twenty plus years have been using PWD to do our roads millions spent TCP for ashfelt and still the roads not lasting. We need to face the fact we just do not have capable engineers in this field.

I do agree that locals must be looked at first however if we do not have the fit and proper individuals to get the task done we shall be forever going round in circles to have the roads fix.
- @facts (16/01/2019, 19:36) Like (3) Dislike (1) Reply
  Well said. One Minister up and down talking about giving jobs to locals but here is another Minister stating the truth.....they do not have the technical experience. So are we just going to keep wasting the tax payers monies every time as we would only be going round in circles...
Well Sah (16/01/2019, 13:22) Like (6) Dislike (0) Reply
So after he spent millions of the taxpayers money patching up the roads he's now saying that PWD don't have the capacity??
E. Leonard (16/01/2019, 17:38) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
Ok. PWD may only have the capacity to maintain, not reconstruct, the roads. Nonetheless, whoever the reconstruction work is outsourced to must construct the roads to last 10-15 years. The opportunity must be taken now to reconstruct the road network properly. From observation(no pavement condition index data), many centerline miles of roads are in a deteriorated/failed condition due to age, use, poor construction, poor drainage, poor maintenance, hurricane damage.........etc. There is only one proper fix for a failed road, ie, reconstruction. Placing either a seal coat or an overlay over a failed road is only a temporary fix. To reconstruct a failed road, requires complete removing of the surface, base, and subbase (if used) courses down to the subgrade. Subgrade stabilized, the subbase, base and surface courses are laid in the foregoing order. A prime cause of premature road failure is poor drainage, eg, ponding on the surface, poor flow in side ditches......etc. Constructed roads must have the proper cross slope to facilitate drainage off the road surfaces.

Moreover, BVI roads are mixed use roads, ie, they are used by cars, SUVs, light trucks, heavy trucks, construction equipment............etc. As such, the roads should be designed and constructed to safely carry the heaviest wheel load that will use them. Further, to get the design life from roads, they must be efffectively maintained.
- Disinterested (19/01/2019, 22:51) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
  @E. Leonard, the country is broke so where is it going to find all the money to completely reconstruct the roads? Government needs to find fix an affordable fix between reconstruction and just laying down a new surface.
Mr. Hodge (16/01/2019, 19:31) Like (1) Dislike (2) Reply
When will the BVI begin to invest in it's development? Why should we have to outsource the maintenance of our roads? That's asinine. We will always have roads... they aren't going anywhere (unless they get washed out) Why not develop a long term plan for our infrastructure which will include the maintenance of the roads. PWD "should" be the go-to resource for repairing our roads complete with architects, trained human resource and proper equipment. We go through this multiple times a year across both NDP and VIP administrations and our roads are no better. This is insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Get it together people.
- Diaspora (16/01/2019, 20:50) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
  Mr. Hodge, agree that PWD should be staffed, trained and equipped to conduct road maintenance on the road network. It should also be staffed, trained and equipped to do some construction; its staff should do some construction annually to stay sharp and hone skills. A major reason why PWD should have some construction capacity and capability is to carry on if contractor(s) go belly up or there are other work stoppages; the department would not be over a barrel. It is standard practice in outsourcing to maintain some in-house capability. Further, the work being outsourced is construction work, I hope. Most of the BVI road network is deteriorated well beyond maintenance. Furthermore, a sound, quality, functional road network, along with other infrastructure (electrical grid, water and wastewater systems, telecommunications and ports), is vital for economic growth, development and sustainability. It is vital for economic diversification. Let’s fix our roads right the first time; we need to build roads to last. Our roads must be stronger than the first rain. The taxpayers must get fair and readable pricing and value for money.
  - Mr. Hodge (17/01/2019, 08:11) Like (1) Dislike (2) Reply
    @Diaspora I agree with you 100%! I am of the opinion that a non partisan entity,(not RDA) lets call it Town & Country Planning since that already exists be the vehicle used to firstly create a vision for the country 10- 15 years out. Planning and creating road networks and accompanying utilities, schools, facilities etc. Nothing is wrong with consulting but we have spent... not invested, 10's of millions in consultants over the years and where is the fruit of such consulting? If we do consult and fail to carry out the details those are monies wasted! We all can identify what the problems are. Our focus and the focus of out leadership should be solution minded and temporary fix it for now and come back again in 6 months

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Roads Project contracted out; PWD lacks capacity—Hon Vanterpool

12 Responses to “Roads Project contracted out; PWD lacks capacity—Hon Vanterpool ”

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