Washrooms at The Baths closed off due to water shortage
“There are major issues at The Baths. Yesterday there was no water so the bathrooms were closed off. The situation with the water on Virgin Gorda is dire to say the least,” said one person.
They are of the view that the Minister miscalculated in his negotiations regarding the expected numbers and how they would be accommodated.
“When the Minister for Communications and Works negotiated for so many passengers he did not factor in the yachts, hotels, villas, and day trippers from St Thomas and St John that visit on a daily basis. Absolutely nothing has been done to prepare for this influx of cruise passengers at The Baths,” the caller said.
Another caller believes there was no planning for the increase in visitor numbers and as such the reputation of Virgin Gorda is being destroyed.
Multi-stakeholder meeting held
Meanwhile, there was a meeting today, March 3, 2016 at the JR O'Neal Botanic Gardens to discuss the carrying capacity at The Baths. Attending that meeting were personnel from The Baths, the BVI Tourist Board, the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) Conservation and Fisheries Department, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour and the Premier’s Office.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and Works, Mr Anthony S. McMaster told this news site that while he did not hear of yesterday’s water challenges at The Baths, he is aware of a long standing issue of water shortages and knows that there are usually stop-gap actions taken to bring immediate relief.
“With the influx of tourists I know that between the Director of the Tourist Board and the Water and Sewerage Department we have made provisions where water was trucked to The Baths to deal with the heightened number of tourist arrivals,” he said.
He added that he is not sure whether it was a case where there were more tourists than anticipated or if no water was trucked in between yesterday and today.
The situation is not an ideal one
The Ministry of Communications and Works Permanent Secretary went on to explain what is being done to address water woes on the sister island.
“Yes, the Ministry of Communications and Works is aware of the water situation on Virgin Gorda. We do have some provisional arrangements in place and while it is not the ideal situation it has brought some relief to the residents and businesses on Virgin Gorda,” said McMaster.
Knowing that the situation is not ideal, he said the Ministry continues to make provisions and implement processes to bring some ease while the longer term solutions are put in place.
He said that as part of the short term solutions, some portable desalination plants are still be shipped to Virgin Gorda and these will be operational in another two weeks.
“As those go online we expect the water situation to improve tremendously from where it is now,” he said.
“We expect that the permanent solution which is the Aqua contract and the upgrade of the facilities over there will actually come into place around July/August this year which would bring definite relief,” said McMaster.
Efforts to reach persons from the BVI Tourist Board, the National Parks Trust and Conservation and Fisheries Department for a comment on the issue proved futile.
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31 Responses to “Washrooms at The Baths closed off due to water shortage”
um, Mr minister? The tourists say they can't use the washrooms and this one lady said she need to clean she feline.
DID THEY ALREADY PAY AND THEIR HEADCOUNTS ADDED TO THE REGISTRY??
uh, yeah.
GOOD. TELL THEM WE'LL LOOK INTO IT WHILE MY COLLEAGUES FLY TO OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE EARTH AND GET SOLUTIONS FROM FOREIGNERS. NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME, I GOT TRAILERS TO GO PULL INTO MY ESTABLISHMENT.
......what a set of small minded, short sighted wastes. It's Virgin Gorda for crying out loud! One of our crown jewels in our economical cap and you fools acting like you faced with the damned Detroit flint water crisis!!
How in hell's name can you try and lure people here and get them to 'spend' when they feel we can't even provide them the frigging basics like water. Bad enough you ain't got none for your own constituents. Tourists tall and reviews are quickly banged out and this is not the impression we need to be leaving! Cuba is available! Other Caribbean Islands are more enticing and developed! We can't afford to have the ball dropped by you money wasting bastards on such gross negligence!
Even though I am angry about a few things, this do not have to be. Keep the tanks filled, this can be properly managed.
Yes we need to get the water functioning again, and this should be given priority over the side walks right now.
Put the money towards the water plant and get it up and running. In this day and age we should not have to go through situations like this.
Last night a house owner and a renter was complaining about not having water for the tenants (guest) to use, so soon they may have to close down their houses until the water problem is solved. Let us work on this ASAP. I know you said July but we cant wait so long. Easter is just around the corner. The money that we are running up on water it could fix the problem. Lets move on it guys. You can do it.
But listen out INDUSTRIAL ACTION in d pipe lines .
I know d minister personally and is SO disappointed in him with the LIES
2) we are concerned BVI citizens and we are doing all what we can to try not to make our islands looking like a third world country . We have been calling the Minister Mark Vantelpiol and left messages so may
timers its is ridiculous . We never received a call back .
4) only because WE CARE we keep going and assisting as much as we can . We are so prod to be considered one of the top 10 beaches destination of the Caribbean that we are striving to our best . But unfurtanetely we do need to pay our employees , fuel, insurance and no one seems to understand nor care So eventually we will have to stop
It is sad that one on the best 10 beaches destination in the Caribbeans has to face this kind of situation . Shame on you. Shame on a lot of you .