‘We need to take pride in ourselves & our beautiful VI'- Hon Luce D. Hodge-Smith
The government of the Virgin Islands began public consultations to discuss this project during a Town Hall Meeting held at Maria’s by the Sea on Wednesday, July 3, 2025.
Minister Hodge-Smith stated, “We must work on our infrastructure and do the necessary things to sustain the tourism industry. However, we also need to take pride in ourselves and our beautiful Virgin Islands, and maintain the high standards we set for ourselves as Virgin Islanders. We are moving forward with this public-private partnership, recognising the value it brings. We have individuals with diverse skill sets and expertise coming together to accomplish what we need.”
She further explained, “In other words, the government cannot do this alone. The government has already allocated initial funds, with approximately $1.2 million being transferred to the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), which will oversee the projects and ensure their implementation.”
Following the discussions, the Minister indicated, “We will return to share which projects we will prioritise. There is much work to be done, and it will be addressed in phases; it won’t all happen at once. It’s important to recognise that this model, as I mentioned before, is not a new concept. Public-private partnerships involve collaboration between the government, businesses, and communities to achieve our desired outcomes.”
‘Climate-resilient city’
Meanwhile, Angela Burnett Penn, a representative from the Ministry of the Environment, Natural Resources, and Climate Change, addressed the Town Hall Meeting.
She explained that part of the vision for the Road Town plan is to ensure that the capital becomes a climate-resilient city.
This means developing a capital that will no longer be highly vulnerable to flooding, which is anticipated to increase in frequency and severity due to climate change.
The plan also aims to ensure that structures in the town can withstand higher category hurricanes, which are expected to become more common due to climate change.
She added, “We will have a town that stays as cool as possible through measures such as green infrastructure and more trees. We all know that average temperatures are expected to rise due to climate change, and we are already experiencing its effects. Additionally, the influx of sargassum we are witnessing is directly linked to climate change, and these events are expected to continue, particularly in the Road Town Harbour area. We want to ensure that all these climate change impacts are factored into the Road Town plan and considered in the funding generated for implementation.”
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11 Responses to “‘We need to take pride in ourselves & our beautiful VI'- Hon Luce D. Hodge-Smith”
$3,000Million spent since Irma.
$3Billion
Do the people of the VI see any of that money invested in their country.
Time for Heritage and Cindy to join the people in a real March to demand the Financial Statements. Why have we not had a Financial Statement since 2016.
Who is being reprimanded for this? Who is accountable? Who is being investigated? Who is hiding behind this? What is being hidden by this? Who benefits from this? Who is going to be fined for this?
Where is our $3,000,000,000???
Why can we not see any of it in the infracstructure of this Territory?
Where is it?
3,000,000,000.00