Ribbon-Cutting celebration of new DVES garage

By Christopher Tobutt

There was a big celebration at the end of North Sound Road, as Phase Two of the Department of Vehicle and Equipment Services’ (DVES) opened, with a ribbon-cutting from Deputy Premier Hon. Christopher Saunders, Chief Officer Eric Bush,  Hon. Jay Ebanks, Minister of Infrastructure and Stephen Quinland, Director of DVES .

The new facility provides just the right environment for the DVES team to fix and maintain the Government’s vehicles, from the smallest car to the largest earthmover, a total of nineteen service bays. The first phase, consisting of administrative buildings and storage facilities, was completed during the previous administration, back in 2019, and the new phase is very impressive with buildings the size of aircraft hangars, and plenty of room to work in safety with the most up-to-date of equipment, leading to much better efficiency and turn-around times according to DVES Director Stephen Quinland:

“The shop is split into three sections, heavy trucks over here, heavy equipment in another section, and light vehicles in another. Prior to this building being built, we did not have this space, so most of the work was carried out in the elements. So during the summers, during the excessive heat those guys were working on the tarmac in the heat, not a covered situation like we have now.

“Also the depth of the bays was very short, so in terms of stability of working on a very large vehicle, they were on an angle, so elevating them posed a direct danger to the technician. So now we have enough floor-space that we can put them level, and work on them in a safer environment so now we can get that truck in and out in the same day.”  whereas before it took us a week to do that same kind of work in the old environment.

“It was the same thing with the large earthmoving equipment. We didn’t have space in the shop to work on them, so we would work in the field most of the time, and in the field depending on what the environment is, we couldn’t get the work done in a timely manner. Now we have room to work on four pieces of equipment at the same time and within the same area, safe and secure.” 

Hon. Jay Ebanks, Minister of Infrastructure said, “We are pleased to be opening the second phase the DVES’ redevelopment project. My Government was committed to completing this project which started a few years ago with the construction of the two-storey administration building that houses employees, stores and fleet management services,” said “This further expansion will lead to more improvements including better turnabout repair times, increased working stability for large vehicles and minimised employee exposure to the elements”.