Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

National Parks' fees 'need to be raised'- NPT Director Dr Titley-O'Neal

National Parks' fees 'need to be raised'- NPT Director Dr Titley-O'Neal

A call has been made for Cabinet to look at ways to increase the fees for accessing and utilising parks under the National Parks Trust (NPT) to allow for the employment of additional staff for more effective management of the parks across the territory.

This was told to reporters on Friday, August 26, 2022, during a press conference at the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) to announce the official commencement of a new two-year project funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Darwin Plus Initiative entitled “Integrating climate change resilience into protected area design and management'.

Faced with a major cut of subventions to the National Parks Trust over ten years ago, Director Dr Cassander P. Titley-O’Neal is confident that further cuts are continuing, hence the need for additional revenue generation.

"One of the biggest challenges for the Trust is our fees need to be raised. Right now there are only three terrestrial parks that under the law that we are able to charge fees for.”

Those she said are Sage Mountain National Park, J. R. O’Neal Botanic Gardens and The Baths, “Which everybody knows is three dollars, locals don’t pay.”

A call has been made for Cabinet to look at ways to increase the fees for accessing and utilising parks under the National Parks Trust (NPT) to allow for the employment of additional staff for more effective management of the parks across the territory.


Current fees 'can't even keep the lights on'- Dr Titley-O'Neal


Dr Titley-O'Neal noted that an analysis done around 2015 concluded that the current model for revenue generation for the parks' upkeep is not cost-effective.

“Three dollars does not even pay to keep the lights on, it doesn’t pay to keep the sewerage system going and how the model was set up, it was set up for these three parks as well as conservation moorings that we have.

She said the monies raised from park fees also have to pay staff salaries as well as maintain the parks.

However, according to Dr Titley-O’Neal, “We have written and requested for the fees to be raised. The approval for the fees is not solely on the Trust, it is something that has to be done on Cabinet's side.

“The cost to maintain the moorings, the cost to maintain The Baths… it costs to maintain those things and unless our fees are raised there is not a whole lot that we can do.”

Minister for Natural Resources and Labour Honourable Melvin Turnbull (R2) was also present at the press conference.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×