Water Relief On The Way For Residents Of East End/Long Look

~~Adz:Right~~Roadtown, Tortola; Monday, December 22 – The water woes of residents of East End/Long Look could soon be a thing of the past with the signing of a Heads of Terms agreement on behalf of the Government of the Virgin Islands (UK) with Ocean Conversion (BVI) Ltd. (OCL).

Premier and Minister for Finance Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE signed a Heads of Terms agreement on behalf of Government with OCL on December 19 for the production of potable water from the company’s Bar Bay Plant located at Hodge’s Creek, Tortola. 

The Heads of Terms, which defines the proposed terms of an agreement, will be incorporated into a written agreement to be executed between both parties. It is the first step in bringing a continuous and reliable supply of water to the residents of East End and Long Look.

Residents of the East End/Long Look area are expected to have water available to them as of Wednesday, December 24.

The Premier acknowledged that residents have suffered for a reliable and dependable supply of water for several years and although attempts have been made to remedy the situation, the problem has persisted.

“Before making the decision to enter into the heads of terms agreement with Ocean Conversion, I thought long and hard about the situation and the one thing that kept coming back is what is best for the people, and what is best for the people right now is some relief when it comes to water,” the Premier said.

According to the heads of terms, Ocean Conversion is expected to design, procure and construct reservoir(s) on the site with a storage capacity to be agreed between Government and OCL; design and construct potable water pipelines between the plant, the Hodges Creek reservoir site and the piped water distribution system and design, procure and install  bolted steel reservoir(s) on the Hodges Creek reservoir site and all associated inter-connections to the piped water distribution system and the new product pipelines, among others.

Cabinet established a Cabinet Committee on Wednesday, July 16 to negotiate with OCL for the supply of potable water to East End/Long Look.  The negotiations focused on getting a dependable supply of potable water for the area at a satisfactory price for both consumer and supplier. 

The committee comprised of the Premier, Deputy Premier and Representative for the Eighth District Honourable Dancia Penn Sallah, QC, and the Minister for Education and Culture Honourable Andrew Fahie.

Government remains committed to investing in additional storage and distribution systems throughout the Territory to bring potable water supply to all major residential area.