Government hopes businesses will fund half of a $10 million effort to spruce up Road Town over the next five years, but the needed financing is not yet in place, according to Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley.
Launching the Road Town Partnership during a Friday press conference at the Financial Services Commission, Mr. Wheatley said the initiative will aim to improve commercial and civic areas from the Prospect Reef roundabout to the Purcell roundabout.
“It will be an ongoing partnership to facilitate the improvement of Road Town over time,” he said. “But we have made an initial commitment of over $1 million. I think $500,000 of that has been budgeted this year. We have made a commitment to, at the very least, $5 million over the course of the next five years. We are hopeful that our partners will be able to match that contribution.”
The premier said the effort will facilitate multiple projects in districts Three through Six.
“The final list of projects has not been fully costed,” he added. “That is part of the Road Town Partnership when they get together.”
Independent board
The partnership, he said, will be overseen by an independent board of 11 members from government and the private sector, who will be charged with developing a “Road Town Development Plan” in collaboration with community stakeholders. This plan, he added, will also be informed by input from Chief Planner Greg Adams as well as previous planning work dating back to the Road Town Charette created in the 1990s.
The RTP board will be co-chaired by Junior Tourism Minister Luce Hodge-Smith (R-D4) on the government side and by hotelier and businesswoman Lorna Christopher on the private-sector side, according to Mr. Wheatley.
“When fully constituted, RTP will be a legal partnership where the partners will have decision-making rights, responsibilities, risk and benefits,” he said.
“Working together, the partners will develop the vision and plan for Road Town and identify the legal structure, capability and resources to transform and maintain its infrastructure, appearance, ambiance and user-friendliness.”
‘Love and attention’
Asked Friday if he thought much of Road Town currently looks shabby, the premier said that “love” is needed.
“I think there are some areas that need some love,” he told the Beacon. “We are going to give Road Town as much love and attention as possible. We are not trying to demean or degrade Road Town. It’s a capital with a lot of history, a lot of character. So we are not here to beat up Road Town. We want to see that it can be the best it can be.”
Questioned about controversy in the United Kingdom over some major public-private partnerships that have been criticised for producing poor value for government money, Mr. Wheatley defended the project.
“The Road Town Partnership is more of a formal way of bringing different stakeholders together: business community, the community itself, the government,” he said, adding, “I know in the United Kingdom and other places they might have been using PPPs to do things like education — things that traditionally, maybe, government would do on their own. In this instance, I think it’s quite apt and it’s quite appropriate given the use that the business community has for Road Town.”
Past neglect
Mr. Wheatley added that the capital has been neglected in the past.
“Over the years, we have not kept up with the needs of our capital,” he said. “It is the centre of government, commerce, our thriving financial service sector, tourism — and where we all must visit at some point.”
Areas to be addressed by the effort include sidewalks, walkways, green areas, pick-up and drop-off areas, crosswalks, trash receptacles and drains, according to the premier.
Other projects will focus on roads, parking lots, landscaping, trees and gardens, coastal water quality improvements, restrooms, seating, signage, painting, demolition and removal of condemned structures, urban renewal, historic preservation and the restoration of historic buildings, he said.
‘New beginning’
The premier promised a “new beginning” for the capital.
“In the Virgin Islands, we say talk is cheap but money buy land,” he said. “It is going to cost money to make Road Town the capital the Virgin Islands deserve. As I have said, government can’t do it all and can’t do it alone. That is why we are using partnerships as a building block in the development of the Virgin Islands.”
