Last minute gut clearing was a strategic decision- Hon Kye M. Rymer
Hon Rymer was the guest on Talking Points on ZBVI 780 AM on Monday, August 17, 2025, where Grange, during discussions, said, “This is my opinion now, I feel like we’re so responsive rather than proactive.”
He used the clearing of guts in the early hours of the morning, Saturday, August 16, 2025, just before the Territory felt the impacts of Hurricane Erin, as one such example.
“Can we have a maintenance program for the guts to keep them clean, rather than us having to do it at the last minute?
Funds allocated for guts and drains- Hon Rymer
The Communications and Works Minister quickly dismissed that allegation, saying he does not think that was a reactive response, saying he was being strategic “in terms of what was allocated”.
Hon Rymer added that in terms of his ministry’s budget, among the funds received, allocation was made for addressing the guts.
“Earlier in the year, we used that fund to assist Public Works with doing asphalt road work as well.”
He said the Public Works Department has a plan for each district to mobilise teams to clean guts and drains.
“Hence, we were able to do that.”
We were strategic in terms of getting it done
Hon Rymer continued, “It seemed that we were probably doing that last minute, as we were, but it’s all what we have been doing in terms of making sure at that moment everything is cleaned.”
The Territory, he said, gets rain year-round, which brings debris with it, and it becomes a cycle.
“So we thought with the excess rain that we expect during the hurricane season, we’re going to prepare during this time. It’s not about being responsive; it’s just that we were strategic in terms of getting it done right before the heavy rainfalls.”
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15 Responses to “Last minute gut clearing was a strategic decision- Hon Kye M. Rymer ”
That and ghuts cleaned on a regular basis so that they are always clear and always working.
The pre hurricane or storm checks then would go quickly and just be to clear items that have been dumped or put there recently.
We need a maintenance program which is managed and teh work checked.
We then need to be checking roads and clearing edges of rocks and slides. After storms for sure. But this and bush cutting should regular maintenance items.
These should not be decisions. We should be doing this work routinely and managing the teams to make sure we are not paying for work that is not done.
Make that decision and the VI will start to look like a real place where people live and has an actual Government and a working Works Minister.
But well done, at least this time we had the ghuts cleared in time.