‘Hon Vanterpool must accept responsibility for water woes!’ - Hon Fraser
Minister Vanterpool’s statement in response to Hon Fraser was sent out to media houses yesterday February 24, 2015 and sought to refute the allegations that Hon Fraser made during the last VIP Let’s Talk radio show of February 18, 2015.
An excerpt of the Minister’s statement said: “Here are the facts….and it is a downright shame that Honourable Fraser is misleading the people of these Virgin Islands with misguided information, to make it seem as though our current Government is wasting taxpayers’ money, when it was his Government that got us into this Biwater mess.
“The previous Virgin Islands Party Government signed a $200 million no-bid contract with Biwater on February 18, 2010, in the middle of a global recession, guaranteeing Biwater payment for 2.3 million imperial gallons of water per day, amounting to approximately $1 million per month, whether we used it or not.
“On top of that, this Government has to pay Biwater’s electric bill, at a rate of $7 per thousand gallons, amounting to approximately $400,000 per month or approximately $5 million a year. This is the absurdity of this contract that our Government is presently grappling with."
Hon Fraser’s response
In response, Hon Fraser said that the Minister has not refuted the figures that he put forward and that the Minister refused to accept responsibility for the current situation.
“By now everyone would have seen or heard the childish tit for tat behavior by the Minister for Communications and Works regarding his handling of the woeful state of Tortola's water supply issues, in what seems to have been a response to my reporting of the facts pertaining to wasteful spending during Wednesday night's VIP Let’s Talk Radio Programme,” said Hon Fraser in a statement to this news site today. “The Minister instead of accepting responsibility, he seems to have taken offense and issued a statement of his own.”
He continued, “I have noted keenly however, that in all his rant, Minister Vanterpool has not once refuted the figures I've presented illustrating his unnecessary and wasteful spending of half a million dollars a month to Biwater and Aqua Design for water not used because of his government's ruthless attempt to sabotage the Biwater agreement through their refusal to honour the Government's responsibility under the said Agreement."
“That miscalculation on Minister Vanterpool's part that Biwater would just simply go away if the infrastructure was not put in place, coupled together with political pressure, has prevented his Government from being able to distribute the water when the Biwater Plant began to produce, thus forcing them to go and buy water from Aqua Design, essentially paying for the same water twice,” Hon Fraser said.
He pointed out that not once has Minister Vanterpool addressed the issue he raised regarding his failure to expand and upgrade the water distribution system, which he said is the root cause for all this wasteful spending.
“Instead, he decided to make the erroneous claim that the Biwater Plant's location is a problem, when in fact, that Plant is actually placing water in the same Sabbath Hill reservoir which has always been responsible for supplying Brewers Bay, Cane Garden Bay, the Ridge Road, Chalwell, and all parts above Fort Hill. And besides, the island's water distribution system is looped, which means that water produced in Capoon's Bay can be sent to Balsam Ghut through the current network of pipes, pumps and reservoirs,” he said.
“For some reason however, the Minister for Communications and Works Hon. Mark Vanterpool has failed to realize that this system for island wide distribution exists but is in need of serious upgrade and some expansion. Three years and three months were more than enough time to prepare for this mess he has on his hand,” Hon Fraser said.
Blaming the VIP
Hon Fraser said that the Minister again sought to blame the VIP for the current water woes. “Blaming our government for not upgrading the distribution system between 2010 and 2011 to distribute water that only started production in November 2014, which was a full 3 years after we left office; when his government had from November 2011 to November 2014, a full 3 years to do the work, reminded me of the Premier blaming our government for France blacklist on the territory which was placed in August of 2013, a full year and 9 months after we left office. It is the classic case of failure to accept responsibility. That is not going to work. Not this time,” said Hon Fraser.
Self interest
Hon Fraser said that when the Minister asked whose side he was on, he said, “The Peoples Side, something he won't understand, because it's a stark contrast to his administration's philosophy of tilting the playing field to the benefit of self-interest.”
“The people of Tortola are fed up and are not interested in this constant claim and counterclaim of which Government is to be blamed for what, they just need a constant supply of high quality water, which is what the Biwater Agreement offers. That water is currently ready for delivery if only the government would take it,” said Hon Fraser.
48 Responses to “‘Hon Vanterpool must accept responsibility for water woes!’ - Hon Fraser”
handedly responsible NDP and BVI investment club .
That water production didn't start till November 2014. How much time did NDP need to upgrade and expand? They had 3 years to do it.
Is NDP allow Biwater to get water from the sea after they couldn't get any water from the Well.
Who we? Must be mean some of Sea Cows Bay people alone..His excuse does not fit the mess he created. You want to graduate from school, you study had. They water system was in ciaos before he signed that c...ked deal. He needed to fix the pipes etc to accommodate BiWater before he signed an contract. In fact, he should not have signed onto BiWater. We already had enough water plants here. All the then government had to o was ask them to increase their capacity...but noooo, he had to bring i another company just like the cell phone mess he now has us in..Frazer aim is to destroy every local company..so sad..maybe he needs to go back to the USA for he's still holding their passport.
Apart from what has been said by both parties, what the public should be made aware of is, Bi Water's obligation to build a sewage treatment plant at Bird's Point, {Road Reef}; install the pressurized line between the pumping station by the round about and Bird Point. In addition the company is obliged to assist W/S in detecting leaks in the system. This work is covered in the Agreement at no cost to Government.
Nothing today is free. What is conspicuously absent and is causing much concern is the lack of transparency. This has a long history and should be stopped!!.
Free, BiWater is doing nothing for free. The cost of the treatment plant etc is already worked into that mess of a contract that was signed. You honestly think they would come here and do anything for free? You seem to dont understand we will be paying three times the amount of money for the same water we were paying less for. If the former government had done their study along with BiWater, they would have know the wells in Pari were dry and would not produce the water needed. Who the HELL signs a contract without know for sure what they would be getting. The now government did not have to give BiWater permission to cross the streets to the sea to get water because that was not the contracted deal and you all here bloging p.ss but Mark was holding up project. .
You are obviously an NDP so nothing I say will convince you, for all you people do is think about possibilities and wish it into existance when it comes to this Biwater contract. The contract is what it is and nothing els. FREE is FREE, so go suck an egg. You are right, Mark didn't have to let Biwater cross the road, so why the hell he let them cross the road. He campaign telling the people that them was going to get rid of Biwater, that was he chance to get rid of them. He did not do it, and now he here talking p.ss.
The Baughers Bay plant water was at $24 plus per 1000 gallons (but the NDP Administration of 2003/7) cut it to $6.80 per 1000 gallons which was challenged on court and OC won, thus the $11 million government is currently paying out to them.
For Biwater it is $12.90 per 100 gallons of POST TREATED WATER (drinking quality water), plus they already built their obligated 600 gallon reservior at Sabbath Hill, their water is charged at the reservior, so government not paying for any leaks between the plant and the reservior, they will be gaining also a new sewage pump station at the round about, a new (never before) Sewerage Treatment Plant for Road Town and surrounding areas, install the pipes between the pump station and treat plant, also erect the Sewerage Treatment Plant at Pariquita Bay for East End Long Look.
I'll stop here and wait for more of your BS