ST. CROIX — The office of Senator Alicia Hansen on Saturday forwarded to The Consortium a letter Mrs. Hansen wrote to Governor Kenneth Mapp, sharing her concerns and asking for a response relative to a situation within the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority. Mrs. Hansen says sources inside WAPA has relayed to her that WAPA has reverted back to using oil to provide electricity to the territory, because it owes the propane supplier $20 million and has yet to pay the debt.
“It has been brought to my attention by concerned insiders that WAPA has converted from the use of propane back to oil. The information is that the propane vendor will no longer provide propane to WAPA until paid in full to the tune of appx. $20 million dollars. In the midst of this, sources have said that there is only 17 days left of oil supply in storage,” reads Mrs. Hansen’s  letter to the governor.
In the letter, the senator asked that Mr. Mapp investigate the matter, adding that if the information relayed to her is accurate, the territory would be “on the brink of catastrophe, if you can imagine us in full darkness.”
“Without the availability of propane and only 17 days of stored oil, the result is chaos within the lives of the people of the Virgin Islands, and the drastic negative effect on our economy,” Mrs. Hansen wrote.
Mrs. said she’s willing to work with members of the Senate to resolve the matter. “I reiterate that this issue should be treated as an emergency and may require a special session. Please place all hands-on deck to get to the bottom of this,” she concluded.
Tags: alicia hansen, propane, virgin islands water and power authority, wapa