Business View Caribbean - August 2016 49
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
:
-
communication-and-works
