Turnbull slams BVIEC/WSD merger as premature and risky

Turnbull.

Second District Representative Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull criticised the proposed merger between the BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) and the Water and Sewerage Department (WSD), warning that combining two struggling utilities could worsen service delivery across the territory.

“Putting them together without fixing them individually is what I see as a problem,” Turnbull argued during a recent House of Assembly sitting.

Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer defended the move, calling it “a strategic initiative aimed at improving financial efficiency, enhancing service delivery, and strengthening operational resilience.”

He said the plan will “streamline management” and “leverage the strong leadership and established infrastructure of BVIEC to benefit both utilities.”

Rymer explained that while the entities will share leadership, “separate accounting systems” will be maintained to ensure “financial ring fencing.” He added that the merger would eliminate inefficiencies, especially within WSD, and allow resources to be deployed more effectively.

But Turnbull questioned the logic of the decision, pointing to longstanding financial issues in both organisations.

“The number-one payee to the BVI Electricity Corporation remains the government,” he stated. “Any given month that I’ve been in this House for the last 10 years, BVI Electricity is owed by the government between three and five million dollars.”

He added that WSD collects only about $8 million in revenue, despite government spending between $25 million and $28 million annually to operate it. “You have systematic problems with these two entities, and you have persons that are continuing to leave the [WSD] service,” Turnbull said.

Rymer admitted that no new feasibility study had been done on the merger. “A feasibility study for the saturation of the Water and Sewerage Department was completed in 2018,” he said. However, for the merger, “we do not require the feasibility study to confirm what is already apparent. We simply need water.”

“Numbers are not words, and numbers can’t be manipulated like words can. If you have two failing entities… you’re gonna be in the same problem,” Turnbull warned.

The government expects the merged utility to be more agile and cost-effective, with support from international partners and continued infrastructure upgrades.

However, Turnbull warned that without first resolving the “systematic shortfalls” in both departments, the merger may fail to meet its intended goals.