Virgin Islands observes Human Rights DayBy ERIC VOORHISevoorhis@bvibeacon.com

For those who have a positive out-look on life, the wind and rainonly added to the mood of theCelebration of Life Concert heldTuesday night to mark Interna-tional Human Rights Day.

Others may have said it wascold and wet.

But at least when the event

began, with a large group of stu-dents, parents and teachersmarching down Waterfront Drivein the name of non-violence, thesun was beaming.

“It’s really wonderful to see ouryoung people participating,” saidGender Affairs CoordinatorLorolie Connor, who works in theMinistry of Health and SocialDevelopment. “Because what thisrepresents is us standing in soli-darity to take back our commu-nity, our territory, from violence.”

Though crime in the Virgin Is-

Christmas onMain Street kicksoff holidaysBy NGOVOU GYANGngyang@bvibeacon.com

The heavier the rain fell, theharder the karate students

sparred.Dressed in white uniforms, the

young Purple Dragon membersperformed in the pouring rain ashundreds of onlookers cheeredfrom under tents set up in the SirOlva Georges Plaza on Saturdaynight during Christmas on MainStreet.

“They are always awesome towatch,” said Collita Francis, whose8-year-old son was among themartial artists. “It doesn’t matterhow the weather is: They are al-ways on target.”

Other residents were not asbrave: Participation in Christmason Main Street this year wasdown from previous years, said or-

Thursday, December 12, 2013 | The light that comes from wisdom never goes out.

INSIDEBeacon Business..........................8

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| bvibeacon.com | 50 cents

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SPECIAL REPORT: MIDTERM, PART 4 OF 5

But critics not impressedBy CHRYSTALL KANYUCKckanyuck@bvibeacon.com

“Mess!” shouted some of the 300residents gathered under a “bigtent” near the Band Stand on awarm evening in March 2011. Itwas the National DemocraticParty’s official campaign launch,and residents were responding toFourth District candidate MarkVanterpool.

“Our roads are in a —”prompted Mr. Vanterpool.

“Mess!” yelled the crowds.“Our sewers are a —” he said.“Mess!” they shouted again.The routine went on for sev-

eral minutes, with Mr. VanterpoolMidterm see page 28

Two years in,Vanterpoolis touting‘small wins’

Christmas see page 17

Photo: NGOVOU GYANG

Music students from the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports’ After School Programme play carols during Christmas onMain Street on Saturday. The two-day event also included the finals for the Clash of the Carollers.

Frugal in spending, but not in spirit

Marching against violence

Photo: ERIC VOORHIS

Students walk down Waterfront Drive on Tuesday afternoon during a march that ledinto a Celebration of Life Concert at the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park.

March see page 21

INSIDE:From the SchoolsIsland Weekend & Culture

— page 6

Page 28 | Thursday, December 12, 2013 | The BVI Beacon

ENERGY

PLEDGE: Install energy-efficient light bulbs in every house-hold within a year of taking office.

Although some government offices and the homes of someseniors have gotten energy-efficient LED bulbs, supplying thebulbs for every household is no longer planned, Communicationsand Works Minister Mark Vanterpool said.

PLEDGE: Officials will “fully upgrade” Anegada’s BVI Electric-ity Corporation generating station.

The Anegada station got a new generator shortly after Mr.Vanterpool came into office, he said. Further upgrades would berelated to a pilot solar programme planned for the sister island be-tween the Communications and Works Ministry and the Ministry ofNatural Resources and Labour.

PLEDGE: Install solar lighting for public buildings and street-lights as part of efforts to reduce demand on the grid andlower long-term electricity costs.

“We’ve been biting it off in small chunks, starting with thepublic roads,” Mr. Vanterpool said. The ministry has been experi-menting with solar lighting for new streetlamps, such as those onthe Methodist Manse Road, and LED lighting, which is more en-ergy-efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs, in the CentralAdministration Building.

PLEDGE: Introduce a legal framework for a “feed-in-tariffs”programme, allowing residents to produce alternative en-ergy for home and business use and feed their own surplusenergy into the BVIEC system.

“The attorney general has a draft legislation in progress” thatwould allow energy consumers to feed power into the BVIEC sys-tem, Mr. Vanterpool said. He expects Cabinet to review the bill andpass it in the House of Assembly “early next year.” During the elec-tion campaign, National Democratic Party candidates said new lawwould come “immediately” after the election.

PLEDGE: “Provide full support” to the BVI Electricity Corpora-tion to expand its generating capacity. “Through conserva-tion, investment and other means, … ensure that thegenerating capacity is of such that allows for rotation toallow for preventative maintenance.”

“We don’t have a choice” but to increase capacity at the electricitycorporation, Mr. Vanterpool said. BVIEC has one new generator at Pock-wood Pond, which was purchased under the previous administration, andcapacity to produce sufficient energy at peak times, for now, Mr. Vanter-pool said. He added that as new developments are expected, generatingcapacity needs to continually increase.

PLEDGE: “Enact legislation to require developers of propertieswith a cost in excess of $1 million to set aside a minimum ofthree percent of cost for renewal energy related productssuch as water heaters.”

Rather than requirements, the ministry is focusing on encour-aging the use of renewable energy through incentives, such as re-duced duty for solar water heaters, Mr. Vanterpool said. Suchincentives, however, have not yet been implemented.

PLEDGE: Officials “will seek to build or improve eight miles ofmajor roads per year, build or improve 12 miles of secondaryroad per year, and build or improve 20 miles of access roadper year.”

While this goal was out of reach, Mr. Vanterpool said therehave been road improvements, both patch repairs and major re-constructions. With nearly $15 million in work funded by aCaribbean Development Bank loan slated to take place, more sub-stantial repairs are on the way, he said.

PLEDGE: Government will continue road surfacing on Anegada.Several roads have been resurfaced, in keeping with work

started by the previous administration, and the formerly dirt roadto Big Bamboo has been paved, the minister said. The paving totals12,000 feet – about two miles – over the last two years, he added.

PLEDGE: Improve JVD’s roads and drainage.The major part of the planned improvements has been com-

pleted, but there are still some outstanding components, Mr. Van-terpool said. Government is considering turning the two-way roadin Great Harbour into a one-way loop.

Review Road Town’s traffic situation “with a view to provid-ing relief to the motoring public.”

No Road Town traffic review has been completed, but the issues oftraffic and parking are being considered as part of all Road Town devel-opments, as well as the ministry’s ongoing work to implement portionsof a 2005 Ports Improvement Master Plan, Mr. Vanterpool said.

PLEDGE: Ensure that all new roads are “appropriately engi-neered and designed for 25-year flood” capability.

All new roads are being built to this standard, which meansthey’re designed to withstand rain levels that tend to occur onlyonce every 25 years on average, Mr. Vanterpool said.

PLEDGE: Build lookout areas and rest points on areas of themajor road network.

The ministry has put this project on hold, with a priority beingplaced on road improvements first, Mr. Vanterpool said.

PLEDGE: “Provide for all major roads through developed com-munities to have sidewalks.”

New roads, including the recently completed Greenland Roadand the widened Methodist Manse Road, are getting sidewalks in-stalled, Mr. Vanterpool said.

PLEDGE: “Redevelop roads according to the classification systemand ensure that proper drainage is made part of the design.”

A formal classification system hasn’t been completed, but thegeneral understanding in the ministry is that the coastal road run-ning from East End to West End is a main road, the Ridge Road issecondary, and other roads are feeder roads, Mr. Vanterpool said. Inpart thanks to the Caribbean Development Bank loan, which in-cludes flood mitigation measures, new roads are being constructedwith modern drainage, he said.

PLEDGE: Make Paraquita Bay road more “pedestrian-friendly” to ensure safety.

With major roadwork due for the area as Biwater’s new pipesare expected, it doesn’t make sense to put in any major changesonly to have them be pulled up later, the minister said. Short-termtraffic calming measures — most likely speed bumps — arescheduled to go in next year, Mr. Vanterpool said.

PLEDGE: “Review and improve the existing public transportsystem with a view to connecting major institutions likeHLSCC, banks and BVI Electricity to our main communities,with subsidies wherever possible to be provided to studentsand seniors.”

No formal review has been completed, though leaders havecontinued a rudimentary bus system established by the formergovernment. Mr. Vanterpool said the ministry has awarded a li-cence for one company to operate a bus system, and it now needsto work on helping set up stops for the buses.

PLEDGE: Extend cruise ship pier and develop landside in orderto create a year-round cruise tourism season.

Two false starts with the Tortola Ports Partners, a group ofUnited States-based companies that government proposed topartner with to extend the pier, earned a formal complaint anda scathing audit report before the partnership was finally can-celled altogether. Despite all that, Mr. Vanterpool said he ex-pects the extension to be completed under the BVI PortsAuthority early next year. “We’re moving as best we can,” theminister said of the project.

2011 ELECTION PLEDGES:EFFICIENT LIGHT BULBS

ANEGADA ELECTRICITY

SOLAR ENERGY FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

RENEWABLE ENERGY LAW

ROADS: TERRITORY WIDE

JVD ROADS

BVIEC’S CAPACITY

RENEWABLE ENERGY REQUIREMENTS

ROAD TOWN TRAFFIC

LOOKOUT CONSTRUCTION

SIDEWALK DEVELOPMENT

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

ROAD CLASSIFICATION AND DRAINAGE

PARAQUITA BAY ROAD SAFETY

ANEGADA ROADS

ROAD STANDARDS

CRUISE SHIP PIER

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Special Report

YES NO PARTIAL YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

rattling off criticism of the VirginIslands Party government, whichwas in power at the time. Be-tween the VI’s outdated ports,power outages, sewage overflowsand dearth of visitors, the entireterritory was “in a mess,” he said.

Some eight months later,evidently voters agreed withMr. Vanterpool, but his victoryat the polls left the responsibil-ity for a lot of that “mess”squarely on his shoulders.

In an interview last month, hesaid that his approach in what isstill a government of austerity hasbeen to go after “small wins”when it comes to the territory’sinfrastructure, taking steps thatcan get residents the maximumgain with the smallest investmentof time and money.

While Mr. Vanterpool saysthat these “small wins” are chip-ping away at the big projects thatneed to get done, critics of the ad-ministration have pointed tomajor setbacks that they blame ongovernment bungling.

Water and sewerage works areamong the high profile projectsthat have repeatedly stalled, and arecent audit report harshly criti-cised the ministry’s handling ofone of its biggest planned proj-ects: the cruise pier development,which, two years on, has essen-tially had to start over.Water and sewerage

One pledge that earned Mr.Vanterpool support during theelection season was his promise to“review” the controversial Biwatercontract with a view toward can-celling it.

“We have to review that waterstory, but definitely we would bewanting to put a halt to it,” Mr.Vanterpool said shortly afterbeing appointed minister of com-munications and works in 2011.

But government soonchanged its tune, and at a De-cember 2012 water contract sign-ing, Mr. Vanterpool told reportersthat “the territory has to honour”the Biwater contract.

Asked in July about thechange of heart, Mr Vanterpooldidn’t detail his reasoning, butsaid, “I can’t say that I’m satisfiedwith their progress. I am glad thatthey are forging forward.”

When the no-bid Biwatercontract was signed by the former

Midterm from page 1

Midterm see page 29

A MIDTERM PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND WORKS

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

2011 ELECTION PLEDGES:

PLEDGE: Declare Gun Creek, Virgin Gorda, and Setting Point,Anegada, official ports of entry.

Gun Creek was declared a port of entry in March 2012, butSetting Point doesn’t yet have a facility to house the necessary im-migration and customs officers.

PLEDGE: Give “vendors opportunities to make a living withminimal impact on our country’s beauty by providing therequisite infrastructure.”

This pledge was referring to the MCW’s expansion at CraftsAlive Village in Road Town, Mr. Vanterpool said. The renovationsoriginally were scheduled to be completed in 2012, but were de-layed until February of this year.

PLEDGE: Develop “roads, sidewalks, lights, recreational facili-ties and parks” on Anegada, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda.

Anegada and JVD have both gotten new roads under this ad-ministration, and VG will soon have a new park, Mr. Vanterpoolsaid. The road near Scotiabank in VG is also going to be the site of a“major project” to fix drainage in the area, he added.

PLEDGE: “Aggressively pursue” a new port at West End.Requests for proposals of an approximately $5 million new

West End ferry terminal went out early this year and the bids arecurrently being evaluated, Mr. Vanterpool said. This governmentcalled their predecessors’ $43 million plans for expanding the facil-ity excessive. “We’re almost to the point where we can come toCabinet with that project,” Mr. Vanterpool said. Constructionshould start mid-year in 2014, he added.

PLEDGE: Develop separate passenger and cargo dock facili-ties on VG.

Bids are in for the project to create a new dock at the SpanishTown ferry terminal so that cargo and passengers can be handledseparately, Mr. Vanterpool said, but the bids haven’t been evalu-ated yet. He hopes to see the project start early next year.

PLEDGE: “Continue development” of JVD ports.Government plans to improve the arrival area at the JVD ferry

terminal, Mr. Vanterpool said. “Ports Authority is looking at someissues there,” he said.

PLEDGE: Build a Trellis Bay ferry dock and develop a strategyto establish a “regular, high-quality ferry service betweenBeef Island and Virgin Gorda.”

Government has put “most activities at Trellis Bay” on hold“until we can determine what’s happening with the airport devel-opment,” Mr. Vanterpool said.

PLEDGE: Officials will “seek to strengthen” Anegada’s ferryservice.

“It’s a concern,” Mr. Vanterpool said, since limited ferry servicerestricts the public services accessible to residents in Anegada. Asin previous years, government has continued to subsidise Anegadaferries, “and we would like to do more of that,” he said.

PLEDGE: Begin talks with shippers to reduce the VI’s shippingcosts, bringing them more in line with the United States VI’s costs.

Premier Dr. Orlando Smith had some discussions “along thoselines,” Mr. Vanterpool said, adding that some things to consider inthese discussions are the increase in the volume of goods the terri-tory now receives compared to previous years. He added that gov-ernment also encourages private businesses to negotiate withtheir shippers directly, perhaps offering to use that company ex-clusively if the rate can be lowered.

PLEDGE: Review and establish “a long-term managementstructure for the Water and Sewerage Department with aview to establishing a Water and Sewerage Authority as astatutory board.”

Recent moves to merge WSD with the BVI Electricity Corpora-tion are the first step in the process, although the two statutorybodies won’t be fully combined until some of their separate issuescan be resolved, Mr. Vanterpool said.

Complete the sewerage systems in East End/Long Look andRoad Town.

“We haven’t really completed the mission,” Mr. Vanterpoolacknowledged, citing a lack of funds as one of the causes forthe delay. Setbacks have plagued Biwater’s sewage treatmentplant in Paraquita Bay, but work on that facility is set to get infull swing in January. Mr. Vanterpool said other crucial stepshave been completed, such as the replacement of a pump andthe installation of pipes in Road Town and collection systems inParham Town and Greenland.

PLEDGE: Officials will “continue expansion of potable drink-ing water” on Anegada.

A new generator has stabilised the water supply, which in thepast would be halted by power interruptions, according to Mr.Vanterpool.

PLEDGE: Upgrade the territory’s 12 drinking water reservoirs— eight on Tortola, two on Virgin Gorda, one on Anegadaand one on JVD — and upgrade the distribution networkwith a focus on leak detection.

Improvements on the Zion Hill reservoir, which hadn’t beenworking for several years, helped solve chronic water shortages on thewestern end of Tortola, Mr. Vanterpool said. Other reservoirs, includingthe ones at Hannahs and Virgin Gorda, have also gotten repairs.

PLEDGE: Ensure that water is “connectable to 95 percent ofhomes in the territory.”

The Water and Sewerage Department is working toward thisgoal little by little, the minister said. “To get 95 percent connectiv-ity would take a good three or four years more,” he added. He esti-mated that about 60 percent of homes are connected now.

PLEDGE: Review all of government’s contracts with waterproducers “to ensure a sustainable, cost-effective water sup-ply for the territory in the future.”

The ministry and water producers are in ongoing talks, theminister said. Some companies are on month-to-month contractsand others are on contracts of up to eight months. Officials areworking to determine what the long-term water needs of the ter-ritory will be and how the existing producers will fit in once Biwa-ter’s plant is up and running, he said.

PLEDGE: Facilitate protective services and civil society to en-gage in “response training.”

Government has continued ongoing emergency responsetraining for Fire and Rescue and other first responders. In addition,the Department of Disaster Management has facilitated emer-gency response volunteer training throughout the territory.

PLEDGE: Expand the Wickhams Cay Development Authority toinclude a wider area of Road Town, and establish a RoadTown City Management Board.

The ministry is moving toward getting rid of the WCDA andestablishing a City Management Board to take over, Mr. Vanterpoolsaid. “I don’t have a timeframe for it yet, but I know there’s someactivity going on there to move it forward,” Mr. Vanterpool said.

PLEDGE: Officials will “encourage the establishment of a re-search sector utilising the abundance of fibre optics capacitywhich transits the BVI.”

This would likely be handled under the TelecommunicationsRegulatory Commission, Mr. Vanterpool said, but so far it hasn’thappened.

The BVI Beacon | Thursday, December 12, 2013 | Page 29

VENDOR INFRASTRUCTURE

SISTER ISLANDS INFRASTRUCTURE

Special Report

government in 2010, the companywas scheduled to provide waterfrom a new desalination plant atParaquita Bay by November 2012.But after several delays, majorworks on that plant are only nowstarting to get under way.

Government and project offi-cials have placed the blame for thedelays on unforeseen circumstanceslike a lack of well water in the area,which forced the company to useseawater instead. That meant theseawater had to be sourced, and apipeline route chosen — issues thatwere the focus of discussions at theend of 2012.

But opposition member JulianFraser (R-D3) has blamed gov-ernment, not circumstances, forthe delays.

“The project should have beencompleted already,” Mr. Fraser saidat a meeting with his constituentslast Thursday. “If I was there, itwould have been completed a longtime ago.” The former communica-tions and works minister, underwhose watch the Biwater contractwas signed, insinuated that govern-ment was intentionally dragging itsfeet on the project.

“Everybody knows what’s goingon,” he said.

Mr. Vanterpool, however, saidgovernment has been workingclosely with the company, and theplant is now expected to be opera-tional by next November.Distribution

The territory’s water challengeswon’t end there, though: With aproduction capacity of 2.3 milliongallons a day, the supply might bemore than enough to meet currentneeds, he explained.

“Once that comes on streamwe have to be able to have morestorage,” Mr. Vanterpool said,adding, “We need a better distri-bution line.”

Like the Biwater plant itself,constructing a distribution networkis behind schedule, Mr. Vanterpoolsaid. Estimates show a Tortola-wide water distribution networkcould cost $5 million, an invest-ment made more critical by gov-ernment’s contract with Biwater,which requires the territory to payfor 2.3 million gallons per daywhether it’s used or not, Mr. Van-terpool said.

“We’re going to be aiming forthat very aggressively,” he said of

Midterm from page 28

Midterm see page 30

PORTS OF ENTRYYES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

WEST END TERMINALYES NO PARTIAL

VIRGIN GORDA PORTYES NO PARTIAL

ANEGADA FERRIES

SHIPPING RATES

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

WSD RESTRUCTURING

SEWERAGE IMPROVEMENTSYES NO PARTIAL

ANEGADA WATER

RESERVOIR UPGRADES

WATER CONNECTIVITYYES NO PARTIAL

WATER CONTRACTS

EMERGENCY RESPONDER TRAINING

CITY MANAGEMENTYES NO PARTIAL

FIBRE OPTICSYES NO PARTIAL

A MIDTERM PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND WORKS

JVD PORTSYES NO PARTIAL

BEEF ISLAND DOCKYES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

YES NO PARTIAL

Page 30 | Thursday, December 12, 2013 | The BVI Beacon Special Report

plans for the distribution network.Today, complaints about

water shortages have died down,Mr. Vanterpool said, attributingthe trend to the repairs madeover the last two years, such asrestoring the Zion Hill reservoirand building a pump station atCox Heath.

Public water is being suppliedon a daily basis to Road Townand to other areas, while someoutlying areas get consistent de-livery three days a week, accordingto Mr. Vanterpool. In much ofthe territory, the public supplyshuts off at about 7 each eveningand comes back on again at 5a.m., he said.

“That is not satisfactory,” Mr.Vanterpool added. “In our coun-try we need to have water on aconsistent basis — daily and for24 hours.”The cost of water

Despite the fact that residentsand businesses pay for it, water isamong the biggest financial chal-lenges in the ministry.

This year, for example, gov-ernment expects to collect about$6 million from water bills, butthe supply cost will be about$12 million, according to Mr.Vanterpool.

Rather than trying to get resi-dents to pay more for water tomake up the deficit, the ministryhas been reviewing water produc-ers’ contracts, he said.

While water production com-panies have been cooperative andseem open to the idea of loweringtheir prices in exchange forlonger-term contracts, the uncer-tainty of just how much water theterritory will need in the next fewyears makes long-term contractsrisky, Mr. Vanterpool explained.

“We think the demand will atsome point be about four million[gallons per day],” he said,adding, “But there is a grey area oftwo or three years.”Sewerage

On the other end of thepipeline, Mr. Vanterpool said get-ting rid of the sewage running onthe streets of Road Town is oneof the accomplishments he’s mostproud of during his time in office.

“When I came into office itwas a terrible situation,” Mr.Vanterpool said. “It was obnox-ious at times.”

The main improvement was a

new pump station at the RoadTown Roundabout, which wascompleted and handed over to theministry in July. At the handover,Mr. Vanterpool said the newpump would prevent the clogsand overflows that had caused theproblem.

These works, however, rep-resent only a small portion ofthe larger National SewerageProject that NDP memberspromised to complete duringtheir term in office.

In addition to the water plant,Biwater is also supposed to buildthe territory’s first large-scalesewage treatment plants, whichBiwater’s VI Project ManagerRichard Smith told the Beaconthis month should also be com-pleted by November 2014 alongwith the rest of the company’sprojects.

Some of the work promised inAugust 2010 when the previousadministration signed a $1.9 mil-lion contract with CBE is also stilloutstanding. At the time, CBEwas said to be handling engineer-ing and management of an esti-mated $45 million in works like aGreenland pump station, sewer-age connections for homes in theLong Look area, installation ofvideo inspection equipment andother works.

The works were supposed tohave been completed by October2012, and the delays cost govern-ment an additional $261,000 incontract breach fees this year.

The contracts to complete theRoad Town portion of the Na-tional Sewerage Project weresigned in February, but so far onlysome of the necessary pipes havebeen laid, such as those near First-Bank. In addition to being shorton funds, the works hit anothermajor hurdle earlier this year: Thesoil workers were digging to laythe pipe began caving in.

Mr. Vanterpool said workersneed to install support structuresbefore laying the rest of the pipe.

But funding for such projectshas also been a problem. Afterfunds that had been earmarkedfor sewerage works went insteadto the new hospital, governmentwill need to secure another loanbefore a “major push” on sewerageworks happens next year, accord-ing to the minister.Ports

Without a doubt, the highest-profile project under Mr. Vanter-pool’s portfolio has been the

cruise ship pier.Opposition members and

commentators have been vocalabout their disagreements withthe previously planned $75 mil-lion development to be completedwith the Tortola Ports Partners.

Announced in March 2012and unveiled that June, the planwould have given the UnitedStates-based consortium a 48-year lease to Crown land near thecruise ship pier, as well as a por-tion of the per-visitor tax the ter-ritory receives from cruise shippassengers. In exchange, TPPwould provide the upfront invest-ment to construct the pier exten-sion and on-land attractions,according to plans shown at aJune public meeting.

But between the formation ofthe TPP partnership and the un-veiling of plans, governmentsigned on to the Protocols for Ef-fective Financial Management.The document obliged the terri-tory to enact sweeping financialreforms. More pertinent to theMCW, it spelled out exactly howgovernment capital projects, in-cluding public-private partner-ships, should be carried out.

“Therefore it was incumbenton us to take the project out tointernational bid,” Mr. Vanter-pool said.

The bidding process eventu-ally led to proposals from twofirms: TPP and Royal CaribbeanCruises Ltd. TPP was selected,and RCCL cried foul about theprocess. In a January letter fromRCCL’s Vice President forCommercial Development JohnTercek to VI officials, the com-pany accused government offavouring TPP, and said the en-tire selection process was “ques-tionable and unlawful.”

Then in September, citingtiming concerns, Premier Dr. Or-lando Smith announced that thedeal with TPP was off. Govern-ment would work through theBVI Ports Authority to completethe pier extension instead, he said.

Even after the partnership wasover, however, government’s issueswith TPP weren’t. In November,several media houses, includingthe Beacon, obtained a copy of anaudit of the cruise ship pier proj-ect.

According to a report com-pleted by the Auditor General’sOffice, the initial TPP agreementwas undertaken without the ap-propriate input of the BVIPA, andofficials “largely ignored” the ter-

ritory’s Public Finance Manage-ment Regulations, among severalother concerns.Transparency

The report also found a gen-eral lack of transparency in theprocess of selecting a partner forthe project, something that oppo-sition member Julian Fraser (R-D3) has criticised repeatedly.

In May during one HOAmeeting, Mr. Fraser asked Dr.Smith about the project. Specifi-cally, Mr. Fraser wanted to knowabout government’s deal withTPP, and whether the agreementincluded local investors.

In response, Dr. Smith saidthat ongoing negotiations meantit would be “contrary to the pub-lic interest” to answer the ques-tion. Neither Mr. Fraser norFirst District RepresentativeAndrew Fahie was satisfied withthe answer.

“If questions about projectscannot be answered in the Housebecause it’s against the public’s in-terest, then we also have to lookabout the government not pro-ceeding with the project until theycan answer,” Mr. Fahie said.

Later in the sitting, Mr. Fraserasked Mr. Vanterpool to “stepback and consider listening to themasses” and halt the project givenpublic criticism and concernsabout whether the tenderingprocess was fair.

Last month, Mr. Fraser citedhis desire to continue to call fortransparency on the project as thereason for his resignation from theHOA’s Public Accounts Commit-tee. At a meeting with con-stituents on Dec. 5, Mr. Frasersaid it was no surprise the projectwas called off.

“Anything that starts wrongcan’t end right. This project is noexception,” Mr. Fraser said.

He also took some credit forthe project being halted, tellingresidents that his July motion fora vote of no confidence “was with-out question a part of the reason”it was cancelled.‘Frustrating’

The minister calls the projecthis biggest challenge.

“It was frustrating for me be-cause my main concern was get-ting this project done in time tobe able to provide revenue and es-tablish a more stable cruise indus-try,” Mr. Vanterpool said. Headded that now that the projectwill be government-owned andcontrolled, “it probably worked

out for the better.”Fresh from a meeting with

the BVIPA steering committeefor the project, Mr. Vanterpoolsaid, “It’s going to take a lot ofwork to make the goal.”

He added, “If I’m realistic,it ’s going to be difficult, but it ’saccomplishable.”

The steering committee,which includes legal and ac-counting advisors, has said theproject can still be completed bythe first quarter of 2015, accord-ing to the minister.

“I said please consider firstquarter to be January,” Mr. Van-terpool added.

Despite the numerous chal-lenges, Mr. Vanterpool re-mains optimistic aboutgovernment ’s ability to deliveron its promises by the time itsfour-year term ends.

“I am not one who is de-terred or hampered by chal-lenges or even by criticism.Criticism is good,” Mr. Vanter-pool said in the November in-terview. “You learn from themand you try to do better.”

Midterm from page 29

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