Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

No finger pointing over bad roads!- ‘Gov’ts are continuum’- Hon Penn

No finger pointing over bad roads!- ‘Gov’ts are continuum’- Hon Penn

Following statements by Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) that the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is not to be blamed for the state of the territory’s deplorable roads, National Democratic Party (NDP) Chairman and Minister for Health and Social Development, Hon Marlon A. Penn (R7) has indicated that no single person can be blamed.
Hon Penn was at the time speaking on the January 16, 2023, edition of talking Points on ZBVI 780 AM.

“Governments are continuum. I think all of us have a responsibility to address the issues that we meet. I think I am not one who's going to say it's not my fault, it's not that one fault. I think we just need to get it done and that's why I've been advocating from day one” 

Major road works carried out under NDP - Hon Penn 

Hon Penn; however, related that when his administration was in office during the periods 2011 to 2015, major road works were carried out on roads leading to Parham Town and that some roads were totally resurfaced.

“We put proper drainage in, we installed a sewerage line that ran straight into Parham Town. And if you look at those roads you will see, once you do the proper infrastructural changes, the roads standing up,” he said.

Pointing to the durability of the project, he said the roads even survived hurricanes Irma and Maria including flooding, and still remain solid.

“You could see that road does not have a single pothole… it went through the storms and through the floods because they had the proper infrastructure in place. We just need to continue that process, it’s going to be costly. But if you do it right the first time, you don't have to continue doing it over and over,” he said. 
Hon Marlon A. Penn (R8), 2nd from right, speaking on the January 16, 2023, edition of talking Points on ZBVI 780 AM.

No campaigning on Sewerage - Hon Penn 

Meanwhile, when asked about the local sewerage infrastructural woes every time the government changes, Hon Penn said he will not be campaigning on that topic.

“That's not something I'm going to campaign because I believe it just needs to get done. I think when we [NDP] were there, when I got in 2011, we did a significant amount of work and moved that along. I haven't been in government for the first three and a half years of this term,” he remarked.

Hon Penn further added that while there were challenges such as covid and more setbacks, that is still no excuse why the East End Sewerage Project has not progressed under the current administration.

Unpardonable NDP sin?

Hon Penn and his NDP Government had come in for severe criticisms for taking $8m that was allocated to fix the East End/Long Look sewage problem and transferring it to the Cruise Pier Project. 

The project, also called the National Sewage Project, was officially re-commissioned under the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Government on October 30, 2020, after having been delayed for several years.
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?
×