$1M to remove sunken vessels at Baugher’s Bay
This was disclosed by Acting Chief Conservation and Fisheries Officer (AgCCFO) Mr. Kevin Penn during the recent deliberations of the Standing Finance Committee (SFC), which was appointed to examine the draft estimates for the budget year 2012.
The issue of sunken vessels at Baugher’s Bay and other parts of the Territory has been a long standing one for the BVI Ports Authority and the BVI Shipping Registry, which are responsible for sunken boats.
Mr. Penn stated there were a number of sunken vessels at Baugher’s Bay and said as far as he knew, work was done to remove those vessels in the area but the cost would be one million dollars. He further stated there were a few vessels in Paraquita Bay that could be removed easily but there would be a cost to remove those and a few at West End, Sea Cow’s Bay and Beef Island.
At Large Representative Hon. Archibald Christian had previously said on NDP Radio that the National Clean-up Campaign, which he coordinates, had started with the removing of derelict vehicles and boats from certain places but there were challenges.
“We have the challenges with the number of sunken boats in Baughers Bay and Soper’s Hole in West End and so once we get past the budget process, we are right now going through Standing Finance and I am able to identify some funds from all of my colleagues, we will make some more announcements as to how we will progress with the clean-up campaign,” Hon. Christian had said on NDP Radio on Monday February 6, 2012.
It was also brought out during the deliberations of the SFC that derelict boats placed in waters of about 30ft were reported as being good for fish aggregating devices and they had proven to be homes for fishes and were good fishing areas.Mr. Penn stated there was “one or two” of those boats on the north side of the islands between Tortola and Anegada where the boats attracted a lot of fish and that it was good for fishing and diving.
Meanwhile, Minister for Natural Resources and Labour Hon. Dr. Kedrick Pickering said there is an attempt to get a comprehensive idea of how best to move forward in order to clean up the environment with respect to derelict boats. He also stated that it was a complex issue and that there were so many responsible agencies that did not have authority because Disaster Preparedness should also be involved.
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