BVI water shortages leave some residents without running water for weeks
Key Points(5)
- Persistent water shortages across parts of the British Virgin Islands are leaving some residents without running water for weeks, with reports that people on Jost Van Dyke have resorted to bathing in the sea.
- The situation was discussed during a recent Kross Talk podcast interview with Aaron Parillon, a National Democratic Party candidate for the Third Electoral District.
- Host Tyler Levons said he had seen reports that the water shortage on Jost Van Dyke had become so severe that some residents were using seawater to bathe.
- “I saw in Jost Van Dyke, where it got so bad that members of the community resorted to bathing in the seawater,” Levons said.
- Similar claims have circulated on social media.
Persistent water shortages across parts of the British Virgin Islands are leaving some residents without running water for weeks, with reports that people on Jost Van Dyke have resorted to bathing in the sea.
The situation was discussed during a recent Kross Talk podcast interview with Aaron Parillon, a National Democratic Party candidate for the Third Electoral District.
Host Tyler Levons said he had seen reports that the water shortage on Jost Van Dyke had become so severe that some residents were using seawater to bathe.
“I saw in Jost Van Dyke, where it got so bad that members of the community resorted to bathing in the seawater,” Levons said.
Similar claims have circulated on social media. Second District Representative Melvin “Mitch” Turnbull has also previously told the House of Assembly that some residents on Jost Van Dyke had turned to the sea because of water shortages.
Parillon said the problem extends beyond Jost Van Dyke, with some residents in parts of the Third District going without running water for weeks at a time.
“Some specific parts of my community are without water for a month, sometimes two weeks, sometimes three weeks,” he said.
He said the shortages were particularly difficult for women, elderly residents and families with newborns. Parillon added that he has been using his personal truck for about a year to help residents transport buckets and gallons of water to their homes.
“We all need water to bathe,” Parillon said, describing the situation as “very disappointing.”
Parillon also questioned why the territory continues to face shortages of a basic necessity despite the size of its economy.
The BVI government has acknowledged that its ageing water network has suffered from years of underinvestment and said repairs and upgrades are under way.
Approximately US$2.8 million is being invested in water infrastructure, including new pipelines in Sea Cows Bay, improvements to the Ridge Road transmission system and rehabilitation work on several reservoirs.
The government is also advancing plans to merge the Water and Sewerage Department with the BVI Electricity Corporation under the proposed Virgin Islands Energy and Water Corporation, or VIEWCo.
The proposed entity is intended to bring the territory’s water and electricity services under a single corporation as the government works to address longstanding infrastructure challenges.
