Mapp Wins Praise From Virgin Islanders After Successful TV Appearance

ST. CROIX — Governor Kenneth Mapp left the territory one week ago to travel to New York for Labor Day Weekend celebrations, where he was expected to be the Grand Marshal in the parade, and promote the islands on various media stops. But unexpected things happened back home.

St. Croix saw a surge of crime last weekend that began with the homicide death of Jermaine “Bird” Williams, forcing Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter, acting as governor, to declare a territory-wide state of emergency. The deadly and injurious weekend caused residents to complain about the governor’s trip, calling it untimely and suggesting that he should return to the territory.

But after viewing a video of Mapp being interviewed by Fox News New York, where the governor eloquently marketed to territory on one of America’s most popular broadcasts, coupled with successful appearances by Tourism Commissioner Beverly Nicholson-Doty and Virgin Islands Superstar, Pressure, who performed his hit single Virgin Islands Nice, the tone of the people, for the most part, changed.

The Consortium published the interview (seen below) on its Facebook page, and it has been watched by over 23,000 people and shared over 1,400 times. Overall on Facebook (from the friends of those who shared it), the video has been viewed by over 82,000 people, according analytic data provided by Facebook.

And the comments on the video, 128 as of press time on The Consortium’s Facebook page and 300 overall, were overwhelmingly positive.

“I applaud the governor, the Tourism commissioner and Pressure for this marketing event!” commented Geraldine P. Vaval. “For all of the naysayers who are spreading negativity, what have you done lately to promote the VI?”

Another resident, Angel Tirado, said the governor made the right call to stay the course in New York.

“I understand that the recent violence that shook our peace undoubtedly requires the presence of our leader, but I honestly wonder what excuse he would have given to the media as his reasons for cutting his trip short and not being the parade’s Grand Marshal,” Tirado said. “I personally believe the media attention would have hurt our islands a whole lot more over the long run. The media would have had a field day similar to the bad publicity we received after hurricane Hugo. As such, maybe the best decision our governor made was to stay the course and trust our leadership until he returns. That’s my opinion.”

The video also received over 2,783 likes — 773 on The Consortium’s Facebook page and 1,510 overall. Mapp spoke excitedly and intelligent about the islands, mentioning of the unique offerings that all three boast, including water sports and other fun activities on St. Croix, St. Thomas’ booming tourism product and St. John’s eco-tourism offering.

Feature Image: Governor Kenneth Mapp with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at the West Indian Day celebrations in New York. Mapp was the Grand Marshal this year.