Mapp Cancels Trip To West Virginia, Returns To Territory

ST. CROIX — Governor Kenneth Mapp canceled the last leg of his four-stop trip and decided to return home, a press release issued by Government House late Wednesday has made known.

The press release stated that the governor returned because of “personal reasons,” however, Kimberly Jones, the administration’s communications director, told The Consortium that Mapp decided to return to the territory because the trip to West Virginia, where he was scheduled to attend the National Governors Association summer meetings with sessions centered on economic and workforce development; natural resource management; health and human services; economic development and homeland security issues, took nearly two days of traveling to attend and around the same time to travel back to the islands. Jones further stated that the governor could perform a lot of the meetings’ work online.

The governor’s travels included trips to Washington, D.C, where he met with US Department of Energy Secretary, Dr. Ernest Moniz. Mapp then traveled to Golden, Colorado, to tour the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and his trip ended with a stop in Atlanta, Georgia, where he joined Acting Dept. of Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty for media tours that included stops at CNN, and a recently published interview on CBS Atlanta, found here.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter left the territory today for Toronto, Canada, acting as “head of delegation” for the territory’s athletes set to participate in the sporting events, according to Potter, who revealed his travel plans at a Monday press conference at Government House in St. Thomas.

Feature Image: US Department of  Energy Secretary, Dr. Ernest Moniz, Hugo Hodge, CEO of Wapa, Governor Mapp and Gustav James, Commissioner Nominee, Public Works.

Image Credit: Government House.