There are some government projects that go over budget.
There are projects that run behind schedule.
There are projects that encounter legitimate challenges that nobody could reasonably have anticipated.
And then there is the National Emergency Operations Centre.
The building intended to house the Department of Disaster Management and serve as the nerve centre for the Territory’s response during a major emergency has become a symbol of something far more troubling: our failure to match our understanding of risk with our ability to execute.
Hurricane Irma destroyed the former DDM facility in 2017.
That should have been enough.
We had lived through the devastation. We knew what a Category 5 hurricane could do to the Territory. We knew that our emergency management infrastructure could not simply be housed in an ordinary building and expected to function when everything around it was falling apart.
In fact, DDM officials had warned before Irma that the former facility was not capable of withstanding a major disaster. Irma proved them right.
So the Territory did what it should have done.
We planned.
We designed.
We secured financing.
We talked about resilience.
We talked about international standards.
We talked about a state-of-the-art facility capable of continuing government operations during a catastrophic event.
And eventually, in January 2021, Government signed a $9.8 million construction contract for the new facility, with an anticipated construction period of approximately 18 months.
The message was clear: after Irma, we were going to build back stronger.
Except we didn’t.
By December 2023, Government announced that the concrete roof pour had been completed and said the facility was expected to be finished by the fourth quarter of 2024.
Instead, the project stalled.
In July 2025, Government cancelled the construction contract after more than half of the contract value had reportedly already been paid.
More than half.
And the building still wasn’t finished.
Think about that for a moment.
This isn’t a decorative government building.
This isn’t an office complex that can sit unfinished while bureaucrats work somewhere else.
This is the building designed to help coordinate the Territory when the unthinkable happens.
The Government itself has described the NEOC as the central hub for coordinating emergency and disaster response. The facility was designed to withstand hurricanes, earthquakes and other hazards and to allow critical government operations to continue during a catastrophe.
So what exactly is the acceptable explanation for a project of this importance remaining unfinished years after construction began?
Where is the accountability?
Who was responsible for project management?
What went wrong between the contractor, the project managers, consultants and Government?
How much has actually been spent to date?
How much additional money will now be required to complete the building?
What work has already been paid for?
What work remains?
What warranties or protections exist for work already completed?
And perhaps most importantly:
When will the people of the British Virgin Islands finally get the facility they were promised?
These aren’t political questions.
They are governance questions.
They are taxpayer questions.
They are disaster preparedness questions.
And they are questions that deserve answers regardless of which political party is in office.
There is an uncomfortable irony here.
Every hurricane season, the Department of Disaster Management tells residents to prepare.
Secure your property.
Have emergency supplies.
Know your evacuation routes.
Have a family emergency plan.
Stay informed.
Get ready.
Stay ready.
All good advice.
But government must also get ready.
Government must stay ready.
And government must be held to the same standard of preparedness that it asks of the people.
We cannot tell residents that preparation saves lives while allowing critical disaster infrastructure to languish for years.
We cannot repeatedly describe ourselves as a resilient Territory while accepting institutional failures that undermine that resilience.
And we cannot continue treating delays, cost overruns and failed projects as though they are simply an inevitable feature of government.
They are not.
They represent decisions.
They represent systems.
They represent responsibility.
And ultimately, they represent public money.
There is another issue here that deserves attention.
The original project was financed through the Caribbean Development Bank’s Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Loan following Hurricane Irma. Government itself described the facility as a flagship project for resilience and said it was intended to demonstrate how resilience could be achieved in critical infrastructure.
That raises the standard.
This wasn’t merely a local construction project.
It was supposed to be an example of how the Territory would rebuild after disaster.
Instead, years later, the unfinished structure risks becoming an example of something else entirely.
How not to do it.
The lesson from Irma was supposed to be that we could never again afford to be caught unprepared.
Yet almost nine years after Irma, we are still talking about completing the building that was supposed to make us better prepared for the next one.
That is the travesty.
And it is not simply about concrete, steel and construction contracts.
It is about whether we have learned anything.
Because the next major hurricane will not care which contractor was fired.
It will not care which administration signed the contract.
It will not care whether the project encountered procurement difficulties, management problems or disputes.
A hurricane does not recognize excuses.
Neither should the public.
We need a full accounting of the DDM/NEOC project.
Not political finger-pointing.
Not another promise that it is “back on track.”
Not another announcement.
An accounting.
What was budgeted?
What was contracted?
What was paid?
What was delivered?
What failed?
Who was responsible for each stage?
What will it cost to finish?
And what safeguards are being put in place to ensure that this does not happen again?
Because resilience is not a slogan.
Preparedness is not a press release.
And accountability cannot begin only after disaster strikes.
The people of the Virgin Islands deserve better.
The men and women of DDM who will be expected to stand between this Territory and chaos when the next major disaster comes deserve better.
And frankly, the taxpayers who have financed this project deserve to know exactly what happened to their money.
We have had almost nine years since Irma to learn the lesson.
We should not need another hurricane to remind us.