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An additional $5 million for water infrastructure will go before the House of Assembly next week for approval, but Minister of Communications and Works Kye Rymer says a $20 million injection is needed to fix the entire system and provide a completion timeline.
Speaking on the Government’s Virgin Islands Voice programme on September 30, Rymer said Cabinet had approved the $5M funding in a supplementary appropriation package (SAP). It is additional to the $8 million allocated to water from the Government’s $100 million loan received in 2024.
“Cabinet approved the SAP that we would be taking to the House next week. There is an additional $5M for water infrastructure,” he said.
The announcement comes as residents continue to complain about unreliable supply and days without water.
Asked when people across the Territory could expect water whenever they turned on their taps, Rymer said the scale of investment required had been identified when he entered office.
“When I came into office in 2019, we understood that it needed $20 million at that time to fix the whole water infrastructure,” he said.
“If the Minister of Finance would inject, say, a good $20 million, I’m sure I can give you a timeline to tell you when we’ll get that system up and running. So this is on the Minister of Finance.”
Rymer did not provide a completion date. He said subsequent budgets had provided only a few hundred thousand dollars at a time, with spending covering leak detection, water meters, reservoir repairs and pipe upgrades.
He maintained that ageing infrastructure, rather than insufficient water production, was behind the supply challenges.
“We do not have a water production problem in the BVI, on no island. The challenge is our age-old pipes,” he said.
Rymer said work had begun in strategic locations, about four reservoirs had been rehabilitated, and the $8 million loan allocation was being spent rapidly.
“Water is something we cannot have… as an annual issue. It’s something that we must invest in,” he stated.
Ongoing work along the Ridge (Road) to separate transmission and distribution lines is expected to improve supply in Cane Garden Bay, Chalwell and Sea Cows Bay once completed, he said.
Rymer also credited pressure-reducing valves installed with assistance from Operators Without Borders for more consistent supply in the eastern end and other communities. However, he acknowledged that pipe breakages would still occur because of demand and the condition of the system.
Speaking on the Government’s Virgin Islands Voice programme on September 30, Rymer said Cabinet had approved the $5M funding in a supplementary appropriation package (SAP). It is additional to the $8 million allocated to water from the Government’s $100 million loan received in 2024.
“Cabinet approved the SAP that we would be taking to the House next week. There is an additional $5M for water infrastructure,” he said.
The announcement comes as residents continue to complain about unreliable supply and days without water.
Asked when people across the Territory could expect water whenever they turned on their taps, Rymer said the scale of investment required had been identified when he entered office.
“When I came into office in 2019, we understood that it needed $20 million at that time to fix the whole water infrastructure,” he said.
“If the Minister of Finance would inject, say, a good $20 million, I’m sure I can give you a timeline to tell you when we’ll get that system up and running. So this is on the Minister of Finance.”
Rymer did not provide a completion date. He said subsequent budgets had provided only a few hundred thousand dollars at a time, with spending covering leak detection, water meters, reservoir repairs and pipe upgrades.
He maintained that ageing infrastructure, rather than insufficient water production, was behind the supply challenges.
“We do not have a water production problem in the BVI, on no island. The challenge is our age-old pipes,” he said.
Rymer said work had begun in strategic locations, about four reservoirs had been rehabilitated, and the $8 million loan allocation was being spent rapidly.
“Water is something we cannot have… as an annual issue. It’s something that we must invest in,” he stated.
Ongoing work along the Ridge (Road) to separate transmission and distribution lines is expected to improve supply in Cane Garden Bay, Chalwell and Sea Cows Bay once completed, he said.
Rymer also credited pressure-reducing valves installed with assistance from Operators Without Borders for more consistent supply in the eastern end and other communities. However, he acknowledged that pipe breakages would still occur because of demand and the condition of the system.
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