Premier signing East End sewerage contract days before election
With just days remaining before the April 24 general election, Premier Dr Natalio has moved to sign a contract to repair the sewerage treatment facilities in his constituency of the Seventh Electoral District.
He announced his intentions to have the contracts signed while speaking on ZBVI Radio this week.
“We tendered for the repair of the sewerage treatment plant at Paraquita Bay and the sewerage pumping station at Long Swamp. And last week in Cabinet, we awarded tenders for that pumping station and for that sewerage treatment plant and we should sign those contracts by the end of the week,” Dr Wheatley stated.
“We completed the main pipe from Long Swamp to Paraquita Bay and we have completed most of the gravity lines which come from people’s homes. When we hook up those gravity lines to the pumping station at Long Swamp and when we repair that sewerage treatment plant at Paraquiita Bay we will be ready to go … People of the Seventh District, your liberation is at hand from the sewerage woes that we suffered from for many decades,” he added.
The Premier further said these longstanding sewerage issues could have been addressed a long time ago if the previous National Democratic Party (NDP) administration had not taken the $8 million that was allocated for sewerage repairs in East End/Long and diverted it to the Tortola Pier Park back in the 2015/2016 financial year.
But while responding to those accusations, NDP Chairman and Eighth District Representative, Marlon Penn clapped back stating that the Premier and his Virgin Islands Party (VIP) were seeking to deceive the public with that rhetoric. Penn argued that $6.5 million of the eight million has been returned from the Pier Park and an additional $5 million was allocated to address the community’s sewerage issues.
“They (the VIP) have over $6.5 million from Pier Park, over $5 million through the CDB loan money and to date they spent zero dollars in our community on sewerage and have the nerve to talk to you about $8 million. They need to go sit down… They are unfit to lead this community and to lead this country,” Penn stated.
“We tendered for the repair of the sewerage treatment plant at Paraquita Bay and the sewerage pumping station at Long Swamp. And last week in Cabinet, we awarded tenders for that pumping station and for that sewerage treatment plant and we should sign those contracts by the end of the week,” Dr Wheatley stated.
“We completed the main pipe from Long Swamp to Paraquita Bay and we have completed most of the gravity lines which come from people’s homes. When we hook up those gravity lines to the pumping station at Long Swamp and when we repair that sewerage treatment plant at Paraquiita Bay we will be ready to go … People of the Seventh District, your liberation is at hand from the sewerage woes that we suffered from for many decades,” he added.
$8M clash
The Premier further said these longstanding sewerage issues could have been addressed a long time ago if the previous National Democratic Party (NDP) administration had not taken the $8 million that was allocated for sewerage repairs in East End/Long and diverted it to the Tortola Pier Park back in the 2015/2016 financial year.
But while responding to those accusations, NDP Chairman and Eighth District Representative, Marlon Penn clapped back stating that the Premier and his Virgin Islands Party (VIP) were seeking to deceive the public with that rhetoric. Penn argued that $6.5 million of the eight million has been returned from the Pier Park and an additional $5 million was allocated to address the community’s sewerage issues.
“They (the VIP) have over $6.5 million from Pier Park, over $5 million through the CDB loan money and to date they spent zero dollars in our community on sewerage and have the nerve to talk to you about $8 million. They need to go sit down… They are unfit to lead this community and to lead this country,” Penn stated.
