September 6, 2022, will mark the 5th anniversary of the passage of Hurricane Irma, a category 5 Hurricane which ravaged the territory in 2017, causing extensive damage to the infrastructure and changing the lives of residents for the foreseeable future.
With this observation looming ahead, Premier Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley believes that Virgin Islanders can look with pride at the progress that the territory has made over the years.
He told reporters, “We have a lot to be proud of, it’s been about 5 years and we don’t want to be in a perpetual state of recovery. We want to move on from recovery and move forward with our development”.
Premier Wheatley credited the progress of recovery in the territory to the hard work of the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), the generosity of the donor community who funded many of the projects, and the resilience of civil servants who have put in the necessary effort to get the work done.
Speaking about some of the notable milestones over the past five years, Dr. Wheatley said, “we’ve been able to restore most of our educational infrastructure… over 90% of our recreational infrastructure was destroyed but we did quite a bit to restore our recreational grounds, even though we have a few outstanding ones left that still need some work… you name it, we’ve done quite a bit of work”.
He did admit, however, that the work continues as several important, outstanding projects do remain in need of dire attention. Such projects, he said, include the Ralph T O’Neal Administration Complex, the Isabella Morris Primary School and the Cultural Centre.
The premier also noted that in addition to recovery and rehabilitation works, the territory may soon move forward with plans for new infrastructure projects including the construction of libraries and museums, which were placed on the back burner due to the need to respond to the destruction caused by the hurricane.
Dr. Wheatley said that he hopes to very soon announce plans for a proper thank you ceremony for those, particularly members of the donor community, who have been integral in the territory’s re-emergence from the devastation of Hurricane Irma.