Head note: I was advised that writing my series on the Golden Shovel would put me at risk for attacks on my reputation and my businesses. I’m not a perfect soul and like many I’ve made my mistakes and I have my challenges - some real and some imagined. There is one thing I know for sure - it’s my love for the land of my birth - our beloved Virgin Gorda. My viewpoints will not align with everyone and may also be misunderstood but that’s why we have democracy.
Is the Golden Shovel designed to shovel infrastructure woes?
Water security remains one of Virgin Gorda’s most critical and unresolved challenges and for us it is a persistent and real vulnerability.
The water intake line at the Handsome Bay desalination plant has been a known vulnerability for years. When it fails - and it has consistently for the last two years when the sargassum invasion is at its peak - the island suffers. Trucking becomes necessary. Costs rise. Residents and businesses scramble to cope. To add insult to injury at times the water becomes contaminated. It is neither safe to bathe with and becomes undrinkable. The odor of the water coming from the pipes is enough to create nausea. What’s even worse, the authorities seem ill prepared and sometimes even hesitant to notify residents of the danger. By the time notices are given, many residents where they can, resort to safety measures of their own.
Sadly not all residents can afford to truck water or purchase bottled water to bathe as well as to drink. In September 2023, residents were so disgusted at the lack of care from our government on the water woes that a petition was launched. The petition indicated that access to safe water was a human right.The petition brought to the fore the long-standing frustrations and called for structured dialogue between Government and the community. As predicted the authorities scrambled and scheduled a public meeting and made many promises….most of which are still unfulfilled The authorities responded with a flurry of responses and there was an acknowledgement of the challenges. Pie in the sky promises of an overland pipeline from North Sound to the Valley sounded good when promised but to date nothing. Promises to extend the intake pipe - nothing. Promises to redo the piping and move to a higher grade of pipe less susceptible to breakage and leaks - nothing. Short term changes were instituted but as it relates to long term water resilience for Virgin Gorda…The Golden Shovel still has a lot of work to accomplish.
As our community grows and as this Government calls for higher tourism numbers to our island, we have to wonder what the long term plan is for the infrastructure to match the demand of residents and tourists. Vividly I recall last year that I was excited to hear that Rosewood Little Dix Bay finally got permission to complete their own plant but got a rude awakening when I was informed by “water distribution specialists” that their plant would not alleviate Virgin Gorda’s water woes. Today our challenges remain…leaking pipes..frequent outages…water rationing and sargassum intervention and at times water not fit for human consumption. Despite repeated disruptions and clear evidence that redundancy and resilience are needed, the issue continues to resurface—exacerbated especially during dry periods and emergencies—without permanent resolution.
An island that powers a significant share of the Territory’s tourism economy should not be this vulnerable to water failure. Yet the problem persists, election after election. We have a water system that has failed us because it was never designed for the scale and complexity our island has reached. Our officials have failed to plan for our future.
We are also seeing a road infrastructure that is crumbling or has crumbled. From collapsing culverts to half-done roads, Virgin Gorda’s infrastructure tells a story that no political speech can erase. Most of it is stalled, unprioritized and underfunded. I can drive from the ferry dock to the Baths as well as to the Copper Mine and throughout Spanish Town. I can head to North Sound down to Gun Creek. If I find a ½ mile stretch that is perfect I would be amazed. If it's not the potholes its the eroded speedbumps or the lack of drainage. Some of our roads were built over 40 years ago and now suffer from age and little to no maintenance.
Communities and residents have paid from their own pockets patching potholes with left over concrete from private jobs. Residents have donated their equipment to assist in these efforts because our successive governments have failed to plan and prioritize.
Residents have bankrolled what should have been public works simply because they are tired of the potholes, the broken concrete and sunken if not missing asphalt. They are tired of the broken sidewalks and the uncut brush in certain areas.
But the last weeks have told the story of The Golden Shovel….which signals that we are in an election cycle once again. The asphalt truck finally made it to Virgin Gorda and patched the areas where the outcry from residents were the loudest. But many areas remain neglected. It was quite a Greek tragedy that one of the roads in the vicinity of the district representative’s home partially collapsed…a speedy if temporary repair took place as if to bring to fore in a very public way that more attention needs to be placed on the island he calls home. Hotels and villas have had to maintain government drainage and roads so guests can reach their accommodations.
And still—every election strategists recycle the same slogans about “commitment,” “investment,” and “development.”
As I touch on education, our children and grandchildren deserve better than shared spaces, mixed-use compounds, and overcrowded classrooms.
A modern economy cannot be built on outdated educational models. Virgin Gorda’s children deserve safe, structured environments with room to grow—physically and academically. Were it not for private enterprise stepping in and going through the bureaucratic nightmare of trying to donate..our schools in Virgin Gorda may be in even worse shape. For years they’ve spoken about separating primary and high school. Progress has been made - I admit - that - but purchasing land alone without budgeting and funding the separation as a capital expenditure is nothing but sheer negligence and Golden Shovel talk. But election messaging will gloss over this, too, with continued lofty visions that is a well placed sound bite but little execution.
The Golden Shovel made an early appearance as the YEP construction is in full gear….probably for a grand opening in the middle of election campaigning with very little government financing but lots of braggadocio and posturing. The Golden Shovel again on full display.
My question - How do we move beyond the Golden Shovel? I choose to respond to my own question.
We need to stop being impressed by ceremonies and start demanding completion. A groundbreaking is not progress. A finished, functioning and well maintained facility is.
We need to demand timelines and follow through. Don’t come and put a Golden Shovel in the ground and yet cannot give us a completion date. Virgin Gorda residents must demand status reports and not just random dates. If a project breaks ground in January, where is the status report in June? December? The next election?
We need to stop accepting recycled promises as policy. Talk is cheap. We accept that infrastructure is not but delayed infrastructure costs more. Lack of maintenance costs more.
We must stop rewarding broken promises with four more years.
We seem to be easily satisfied when our officials show up for the scarce public meetings. Many of us know the drill so now do not waste our time hearing them talk at us. Too often there’s the rush to cut the meetings short as God forbid they need to spend the night on Virgin Gorda. After all…who would want to and be worried that there may be no water running from the faucet or more frightening…that there may be a medical emergency with the need for transport over the seas.
We need to confront our officials with evidence although it is there in clear view…the water shortages, the contaminated water, the health emergencies, the incomplete projects, the awful roads and drainage, a port facility with both cargo and passengers ineffectively and inefficiently managed. We need to confront them of the old Spanish Town Post Office which is being left to rot instead of being converted into a museum to highlight our history. We need to confront them with the eyesore of the former Andy’s Chateau de Pirate. Both stand as tombstones of government neglect.
We need to insist that our District Representative and his government respect the intelligence of the community. For sure this was not the case in the last public meeting where the scepter of The Golden Shovel was on full display…grandiose ideas that sounded good but no funding or plan to execute. Virgin Gordians have built resorts, villas, homes, marinas and more and brought our island to “world class quality” We know what excellence looks like. And most of us know when we are being played… we are just afraid to say so and maintain the status quo.
Stay woke for Part 3 Where do we go from here….
Note to Readers
All references to statements, commitments, and initiatives attributed to elected officials in this article are drawn from publicly available sources, including official government releases, campaign speeches, media interviews, and published news reports. This commentary reflects analysis and opinion based on those public records and the lived experiences of residents of Virgin Gorda. It is offered in the public interest and is intended to encourage informed civic engagement and accountability, not personal disparagement.
Penned by Sharon Flax Brutus, Virgin Gorda Resident