One year following to 2023 General Election Anegada, the drowned land, finds itself in a familiar space—abandoned and forgotten post elections. Promises made to a people; forgotten. Their many woes election-after-election, still remain.
The island, the second largest of the Virgin Islands, relies on tourism for survival. Reports across the territory reflect dropping numbers, impacting businesses; restaurants, bars, hotels and tour operators. The island is being hit especially hard.
Some businesses have reported up to a 30% drop in business compared to the same period in 2023, and pre the election of a government led by Dr. Natalio Wheatley.
Accessibility to the island further plagues the island, making it especially difficult for residents and tourist to get to and from the island, an almost two hour sail from the largest island of Tortola.
The lack of reliable ferry service also results in challenges to Anegada’s residents having access to bare necessities. To date little has been done to advance promises of a daily ferry for the island, which would give residents and businesses daily access to shopping, banking, medical access, preferred jobs, and open the island to larger visitor numbers in turn, supporting its struggling economy.
On 9th February, 2023, the Anegada Express which ran a daily service to the island from Beef Island, halted its service with immediate effect, a blow to the island.
"Anegada Community…please be advised that the Anegada Express operation will now cease all operations to Anegada (no returns this time),” a notice read.
The service has not returned, and Government has been blamed for failing to effectively negotiate.
“Every effort has been made to engage Government for ferry operations to Anegada (by any company) to be run 7 days a week for the benefit of Anegadians and Tourists, the island's economy, and accessibility for utilities, education, medical services and emergency evacuations. Endless and lengthy proposals and discussions have been made with multiple persons (regardless of what company/ies that may operate the vessels) to open Anegada up. To date, all logical and practical arguments made to this Government, and previous Governments, have fallen on deaf ears or met with total indifference”, stated Doug Riegels, owner of the Anegada Express via a post made in the Anegada Community Chat at the time.
“Everyone, from the previous District Rep, to the current one, as well as our At Large reps, have done nothing but talk, talk, and more talk, with seemigly absolutely zero intention of addressing the needs of Anegada,” he continued.
A daily ferry service would provide residents on Anegada uninterrupted access to required necessities, but it will open up Anegada to residents of the other sister islands, particularly the larger populated island of Tortola, and the opportunity for the staycation market to grow. It would also open Anegada to a fair share of tours and visits from cruise tourism and overnight guests.
Anegada is the only island in the Territory that does not have access to a daily ferry service.
No Dedicated Barge Service To The Island
The island also does not have a dedicated barge service. Residents frequently complain of the limited shopping they can do based on ferry baggage limitations and cost-per-bag on ferry, making a day’s shopping expensive for residents, in addition to the already skyrocketing cost of living in the Territory.
Business owners are also limited in providing products and services for their varying businesses, crippling business growth and development.
Power Outages A Growing Concern - Utility Truck Removed From Island
Power outages on the island are becoming more frequent, and is impacting businesses negatively.
The latest outage over the May 4th weekend, forced BVIEC workers Michael Vanterpool and Kenrick Faulkner to scale the electric pole during pouring rain and in the middle of the night to attempt to rectify the outage. Although they were wearing safety gear, it was a dangerous situation for the two men.
“According to the GM, the linesmen are trained to climb poles. It’s not risky for them to do what they did. A bucket truck is a convenience. It is down for repairs,” a source shared as an unofficial comment from the organisation.
Following the hurricanes of 2017, owner of Anegada Beach Club, Doug Riegels donated $150,000 to BVIEC to purchase a utility truck for the island. The truck was handed over in a ceremony on 2nd October 2019.
The truck was removed from the island in November 2023, has not been returned. Investigations conducted by Guavaberry Media found that the truck is presently down for repairs though no one was able to comment on what types of repairs would take seven months.
Further comments from the inside the organisation suggested that “BVIEC prioritises what it wants”, the commentor said.
No Concern About Medical Emergencies
The evacuation of residents during medical emergencies has been concerning for years with still no end in sight for the handling of the issue.
Despite promise after promise each election cycle, residents continue to face the scare of falling ill without immediate care help available. Others know the pain of losing family members who died before help could reach their shores. The threat of sickness and death has received no show of care or concern from elected officials.
What Next For Anegada?
Anegada, like the water woes of the Territory, sewerage nightmare and failing infrastructure, is but another can being kicked down the road.
Rightly so, Anegadians are angry, disgruntled and continue to feel marginalised. Begging and pleading at every turn to be considered as more than an election campaign tool.
Maybe one day, after another election, their cries will be heard.
Despite its many set backs and failed promises, Anegada is the home of Trip Advisor’s best resort in the British Virgin Islands for 2023. Anegada Beach Club (ABC) was voted the #1 Guest-Ranked Resort in the British Virgin Islands, offering a semblance of the tourism potential the island has to offer.