Mark Vanterpool, leader of the People's Leadership Movement, has urged the Government to shelve its intention to move ministries back into the Ralph T. O'Neal Administration Complex and instead develop the Road Town site as a commercial centre.
Speaking on the Talking Points radio show on Monday night, Vanterpool contended that housing hundreds of civil servants in the complex would worsen traffic, cluster security concerns in one place, and fail to generate economic life in the capital during evening and weekend hours.
Vanterpool outlined a vision for the ground floor as a small-business mall with roughly 600-square-foot starter units for new entrepreneurs, with upper storeys converted to meeting space and lodging, potentially linked to Maria's by the Sea or a comparable hotel.
"What you're doing is creating economic activity in the city. Any city needs economic activity. That's what the Administration Building should do," Vanterpool said.
The building sustained severe damage from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 and has largely sat idle since. Repair work began in 2019, with target completion dates repeatedly pushed back. The VIP Government has indicated it aims to relocate government operations there by 2027.
Vanterpool, a former Communications and Works Minister and Fourth District Representative, cautioned that vacating privately leased office space would leave landlords holding empty properties and facing financial hardship. He suggested that leasing the Administration Complex for business purposes would generate funds to offset the Government's ongoing rental bills.
Beyond the complex itself, Vanterpool challenged the centralisation of government services in Road Town. He advocated spreading departments across the Territory, placing tourism in Virgin Gorda, fisheries in Anegada, and the Ministry of Environment in Jost Van Dyke, to distribute jobs and investment to the sister islands.
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