The Ministry of Communications and Works - BVI

2 Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean 3 The Ministry of Communications and Works – BVI Tending to the key issues The Ministry of Communications and Works is the arm of the British Virgin Islands Government responsible for the territory’s roads, bridges, water, sewage sys- tems, energy, telecommunications, and seaports. Its mission is to ensure the continued development and maintenance of the territory’s infrastructure and make sure that all public utilities and amenities are reliable and affordable, both for BVI’s residents and visitors. The Honorable Mark Vanterpool, Minister for Commu- nications and Works, puts the Ministry’s primary role more succinctly: “We tend to most of the constituents’ key issues,” he says. Vanterpool has been a member of Virgin Islands House of Assembly, representing the 4th District, and was first elected in 1999. He was ap- pointed to his current post in 2011. While BVI’s Constitution holds the Minister responsible for the Ministry’s overall agenda, its daily operations are managed through a system of departments, of- fices, and units, and statutory bodies and committees. “For example,” says Vanterpool, “the Director of Public Works, the Director of Water and Sewage, and so on. And then we have corporations to oversee certain ma- jor aspects. For example, we have the BVI Ports Author- ity, which looks after the ports. It’s a hundred percent government-owned company. I appoint a Board; that Board appoints a Managing Director with the approval of the Cabinet. So, they run the Ports Authority affairs. It’s not my responsibility on a day-to-day basis.” And yet, Minister Vanterpool points to a broad portfolio of projects - both achieved and planned - that proves that his Ministry does take its responsibilities very se- riously. Noting that tourism is a major pillar of BVI’s economy, Vanterpool reports that the government has invested very heavily over the past three years in a cruise ship development project designed to substan- tially boost tourist visits to the territory. “We’ve extended our cruise ship dock to accommo- date the biggest ships that can hold four to five thou- sand passengers,” he says. “Prior to that we could only accommodate ships in the two thousand passenger range. That new cruise ship dock began to operate at the end of April, last year; we opened the pier side in December.” Adjacent to the new dock and pier com- plex is Tortola Pier Park, a five-acre development that features commercial, entertainment, green space, AT A GLANCE WHO: The Ministry of Communications and Works WHAT: An arm of the Government of the British Virgin Islands WHERE: Tortola, BVI WEBSITE: www.bvi.gov.vg/content/ministry-com- munication-and-works