Mapp To Deliver Keynote At St. Croix Chamber of Commerce Meeting

Following his recent travels to Washington, DC to attend the annual governor’s conference, Governor Kenneth Mapp will meet with members of the St. Croix Chamber of Commerce at Pelican Cove on Thursday morning, where he will deliver the keynote address at the annual gathering.

Information released by Government House did not offer details of the governor’s keynote; however, it is expected the governor will speak on the economic condition of the territory and how he intends to stimulate growth for small businesses in the Virgin Islands.

The Chamber’s new board members will also be announced at the meeting. They include, Joel Lee, Osbourne Fleming, Margi Levy, Shack Hawkins, John Lewis, and Steve Garner.

Furthermore, it is not known if the governor will give an update on the crime that has affected the territory this year, but the topic is also a critical component when it comes to economic revitalization.

VI Consortium will be present at the event.

Violence continued to affect the territory, following two shootings on Sunday over the weekend, leaving one man dead and the other wounded.

At a February press conference at Government House on St. Croix, Mapp said he was ready to authorize a “limited deployment” of military police if Commissioner-designee Delroy Richards called for assistance.

“[Along] with what Commissioner Richards said, there are some other things you should know,” Mapp began. “I’ve been speaking with the commissioner today, [and] I’ve also advised him, based on his call, we are prepared to do a limited deployment of police from the Virgin Islands National Guard to augment VIPD in some of these initiatives targeting violence, targeting the guns in the communities where these shootings occur.”

He continued, “We are going to push back and we are going to push back in a very significant way. And so, as the commissioner continues to build his partnerships with the federal government, he will let me know when he’s ready and needing those resources, and upon his request, I will sign the order, giving him access to a limited deployment of military police from the Virgin Islands National Guard.”

“Obviously, we know we have to pay that bill, but we’ll have to pay it from our resources from which we pay overtime police officers,” Mapp said.

The governor further revealed he is seeking to have all gun violence in the territory prosecuted on a federal level.

“I have asked the Attorney General, and I am scheduled to speak shortly with the U.S. Attorney, to make a decision, through a memorandum of understand, that all gun crime in the territory will be prosecuted at the federal level,” Mapp said, adding “We want to send a very strong message that if you are arrested for a gun crime in the Virgin Islands, you’re not going to do happy time at the Golden Grove Correctional Facility, and if you’re convicted, you’re going to be sent off to a federal institution somewhere on the mainland, as a federally convicted individual.”