ST. CROIX — Governor Kenneth Mapp forwarded to Senate President Neville James for review and action a proposed bill to appropriate $2.5 million from the V.I. Insurance Guaranty Fund or any available funds in the treasury of the Government of the Virgin Islands to the V.I. Waste Management Authority (W.M.A.), to pay outstanding obligations to its vendors, a press release Government House issued late Sunday has made known.
The governor proposed that W.M.A. be required to refund at least one half of the $2.5 million from any funds it may receive as working capital now contained in his proposed capital project budget. In short, this proposal should be viewed as an advance from that source, according to the release.
The move comes as Waste Management has been facing difficulty paying its contractors, including Sanitas Partners LLC, causing employees who work at the landfill here to walk out on Wednesday.
According to Government House, although Waste Management has been allotted its full appropriations, Mr. Mapp is acting on advice that W.M.A. is out of funds and owes approximately $10 million to its vendors. As a consequence, a number of these vendors are unable to make payroll while continuing to provide services to the people of the territory. Government House says this reality only underscores the need for W.M.A. to collect reasonable, but necessary tipping fees for the services it’s providing.
“I am asking that the Legislature act swiftly on this measure. As usual, members of the administration and the Waste Management Authority will be made available to testify on this proposal,” Mr. Mapp said.
Tags: us virgin islands, waste management
Share On Facebook
Tweet It
