Biwater 'was & still is a costly mistake'- Kevin C. Smith aka 'OJ'
Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Third District Candidate Mr Kevin C. Smith aka ‘OJ’ has made a serious commitment to restore an adequate supply of water to the District and the rest of the territory, once elected.
Water woes have plagued the territory for years, with both households and businesses being affected.
This issue was also highlighted by Mr Smith during his official campaign launch at Sea Cows Bay on March 29, 2023, as he pointed to the infrastructure as being the main source of contention.
“We are still contending with water issues in this District and across this territory and to be frank, we shouldn’t have had to. Our issue was and still is the infrastructure that delivers water," Mr Smith stated.
Hon Julian Fraser RA back in December
2021 claimed he was not responsible for introducing the controversial
water-purchase agreement during his time in office as Minister of
Communications and Works.
Biwater was a 'costly mistake'- 'OJ
Mr Smith also slammed the controversial BiWater project spearheaded by incumbent Third District Representative Hon Julian Fraser RA in 2010 as a costly mistake and which has still not fixed the water woes of the territory.
“All we did by getting buy water is make our water situation worse and create an economic leakage of cash to a foreign company which no longer circulates in our economy. It was and still is a costly mistake,” Mr Smith said.
Nonetheless, he said the VIP Party has committed to bringing an adequate distribution of water back to the District.
Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Third
District Candidate Mr Kevin C. Smith aka ‘OJ’ has made a serious
commitment to restore an adequate supply of water to the District and
the rest of the territory, once elected.
Biwater
It was in 2015 that Biwater was sold to Florida-based Seven Seas Water Corporation.
The controversial project was met with strong opposition in 2010 and is believed to have been the cause of the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) losing the 2011 General Elections.
The project was likened to being an albatross around the neck of the territory.
Hon Fraser back in December 2021 claimed he was not responsible for introducing the controversial water-purchase agreement during his time in office as Minister of Communications and Works.
He was at the time speaking of the large amounts of monies and water being wasted by the Water & Sewerage Department (W&SD), adding that Government pours $27 million into W&SD each year to purchase water but the department only collects $3.5 million in return from usage.
