ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands, CMC – Persistent water shortages across parts of the British Virgin Islands are forcing some residents to find alternative ways to meet basic household needs, with reports that people on the island of Jost Van Dyke have resorted to bathing in the sea.
The issue was raised during a recent Kross Talk podcast interview with National Democratic Party candidate for the Third Electoral District, Aaron Parillon.
Host Tyler Levons said he had seen reports that the water situation on Jost Van Dyke had deteriorated to the point where some residents were using seawater for bathing.
“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 surfaced on social media, while 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 residents in parts of the Third District sometimes going without running water for weeks.
“Some specific parts of my community are without water for a month, sometimes two weeks, sometimes three weeks,” he said.
He said the shortages create particular difficulties for women, elderly residents and families with newborn babies, and 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.”
He argued that the territory should not be struggling to provide such a basic service given the size of its economy.
The government has acknowledged that the territory’s ageing water network has suffered from years of underinvestment and says 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 the rehabilitation of 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, VIEWCo.
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