The Government of the Virgin Islands has signed a contract with Biosafe Treatment and Septic Solutions for the installation of sewerage gravity main line from Parham Town to Long Swamp on Tuesday 9th December at the Cutlass Tower.

The contract in the amount of four million, one hundred and fifty-two thousand, four hundred and fifty-two dollars and fifty cents ($4,152,452.50) was awarded and is expected to be completed in a eight (8) month timeline.

Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley stated that the government is committed to solving the age-old challenges that the Territory, but in his district in particular has in relation to sewerage disposal infrastructure. 

Premier Wheatley said, “This is a major, major contract. It's a contract of over four million dollars and these gentlemen at BioSafe have done a good job of being able to manage the contracts that they've had thus far. I wish them well, again, with this particular contract. Their names will go down in history, as it pertains to establishing an efficient, working sewage system in the East, which is something that we have needed for many years. It is going to help our community be healthier. It is going to help our community be sightlier and sanitary. We don't want to see a situation where the girls and boys walking from Willard Wheatley Primary School, or Francis Lettsome Primary School, have to skip over puddles of sewage water. Those days will come to an end. I'm grateful to be a part of that, not only as a Minister of Finance, but as the Representative for the Seventh district. So again, let me say congratulations to the ministry. Congratulations to the successful contractor, and we're looking forward to coming in on time and on budget."

Minister for Communication and Works Honourable Kye Rymer gave a synopsis of the works to be completed noted that going forward, the Ministry of Communications and Works will keep the public informed on the progress and advisories as it relates to the construction of the sewerage gravity main line that may affect traffic in the near future. 

Honourable Rymer said, “We are back around this table again, and this is based on the great work that you have been doing with the past contracts, and we're yet here to sign another critical contract in terms of our sewage network that we are working to complete. This has been spoken of for quite some time, and we are about one half complete with the East End /Long Look Sewage Project, and this would be the completion of the other half. This would be from Parham Town into Long Swamp, and I want to firstly congratulate you on winning this contract, another open tender that you won based on your submittals. Cabinet would have also approved the recommendation from Central Tenders Board to award you the contract, and today we are signing to cement the work that you would do to complete the sewage project for the East End Long Look community. We are quite excited about it, and we look forward to a continued partnership with you.”

Honourable Rymer added, “We know that you're expected to get this done at budget and most importantly on time. You’ve proven with other contracts that you can get these works done, and we from the ministry’s standpoint, from the government’s standpoint, we are excited about this work. We know that there will be some challenges for the motoring public in terms of construction of the roadway and we'll make sure to have timely communication to let the public know what is happening when it's happening. to minimise the disruption. So, again, from the Government of the Virgin Islands, we congratulate you, and we look forward to the completion of this project.”

Patrick Mitchell of Biosafe Treatment and Septic Solutions thanked the Government of the Virgin Islands for choosing his company to complete the sewerage gravity main line installation project and commended them for deciding to take on the challenge of remedying the longstanding issues in the Territory in relation to sewerage disposal. 

Mr. Mitchell said, “I really want to thank the Minister of Communication and Works and his office. Also, the Premier’s Office for choosing us, Biosafe Treatment and Septic Solutions, as the contractor of choice to do this kind of work. From listening to what the Premier said, it seems like you fully understand that the solution to pollution is not dilution, but proper wastewater treatment. I thank this government for making that bold decision to go forward and say, listen, we have to do this, it has to be done. I worked with the Water and Sewerage Department for 20 years, and I know that we've been playing around with this for the longest time. It's reached a point now where we have to do it. I want to thank my team that I work with all the time, and all the other guys that work with us, and we hope that we will be on time. We will try to be on time with this job, I know there will be little hurdles here and there, but we will get over them. Thank you.”

The Ministry of Communications and Works continues to ensure the continued development and maintenance of public infrastructure in keeping with international standards so that public utilities are reliable and affordable in support of an enhanced community life for every resident and visitor in the Virgin Islands.