Acting Premier blasts procurement laws for delaying urgent water repairs
Speaking during a live appearance on Virgin Islands Voice on May 28, 2025, alongside the Minister for Communications and Works, Honourable Kye M. Rymer (R5), Hon Fraser, as such proposed a complete overhaul of the current procurement laws to allow for declaring the water crisis a national emergency to expedite remedial works.
Hon Fraser urged Minister Rymer to let the public know that he was "swimming against the tide" regarding water repairs, since red tape was hindering urgent repairs.
Call a State of Emergency- Hon Fraser
According to the political stalwart, “The procurement policy that we have is not geared towards your needs,” recalling that “...when the Baughers Bay (desalination) plant went down, the producing plant went down, the Cabinet of the Virgin Islands granted permission for me to spend money to fix it, and that money I was able to bring in the technical expertise that I needed overnight.”
With the state of emergency declaration in place, he disclosed, “I didn’t have to go through the procurement process that takes how many months? By that time, everyone in the territory, they give up on you, and this is what's happening with you (Hon Rymer), right now.
“You think you're just now finding out that those reservoirs are leaking? No, you started the process to fix those reservoirs months ago, but you can't get the projects, you can't get the contractors, you can't get anything done.”
To this end, Hon Fraser urged the Minister to push for the formal declaration of a water emergency, which he said would unlock faster procurement avenues.
Quite Deflating
Minister Rymer welcomed Hon Fraser’s interjection, echoing the frustrations surrounding the current state of water infrastructure and its direct link to outdated procurement laws.
“I thank you for highlighting that because I don't want persons to think that we're just sitting twiddling our thumbs; It's not for a lack of effort that the water situation is where it's at. But like you rightfully said, Deputy Premier—the Procurement Act hinders us from being able to be as agile and as nimble as we want to be in terms of fixing these issues.”
According to Hon Rymer, “It's quite deflating sometimes when you drive by and you see the water leaking and you call the Director and you say, I'm waiting, I need this, I need that.”
“I think if we're able to get beyond the procurement, like you mentioned, we'll be able to get things done in a quicker time,” Hon Rymer stated.
.png)
_Skip_the_Ferry_copy_(2).jpg)
.png)
Follow Us On
16 Responses to “Acting Premier blasts procurement laws for delaying urgent water repairs”
1. We were in such a hurry to please our UK overlords that we wrote and passed a deficient piece of legislation that is not fit for purpose.
2. The legislation (which we wrote and passed) is fit for purpose, but damn it sure is hard to get your hand all the way in the cookie jar like we used to.
So come on Mr "acting" Premier - which interpretation is it?
all before those laws them wasn't doing jack or just patching up
oh boi grown dudes running the country but can't accept accountability