Offering Major Election Year Promise, Mapp Says WAPA Bills Will Be Cut In Half By 2019

ST. CROIX — Governor Kenneth Mapp offered up a major promise to Virgin Islanders during his campaign launch event Friday on St. Croix, stating during his speech at his campaign headquarters across from Cost-U-Less that in 12 to 18 months residents will see a 50 percent decrease in their electricity bills because of a number of changes — supported by hundreds of millions of federal dollars — coming to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA).

“We are telling you without dispute, that in another year to 18 months your power bill will come down by half,” Mr. Mapp announced. The governor said he did not make the remark based on politics, “But because $572 million have been set aside for the modernization of the Water and Power Authority. New generating systems, wind-produced power, more solar, lines underground.”

“My friends the point that I want to make here is that we’re focusing on our recovery, we’re focusing on the expansion of our economy, we’re focusing on the creation of jobs,” Mr. Mapp added.

The governor’s promise, though boosted by actual federal dollars available to reduce the cost of electricity, nonetheless comes against a backdrop of a myriad of promises made that have yet to materialize. During his 2016 State of the Territory Address, Mr. Mapp promised the development of a hotel on St. Croix and even set aside $1 million for a “transaction team” to procure professional services, studies, project development and others expenses related to the St. Croix hotel project. But it’s been over two years and nothing has been said about the hotel or the $1 million.

Also in 2016, Mr. Mapp announced big plans for the Altona Lagoon in Gallows Bay and Cramer Park on the east end of this island, hosting community charrettes to gather and discuss ideas. For the lagoon, Coastal Systems — that firm that worked on the new designs — spoke of removing the north road of the lagoon to expand the beach’s edge, among other plans. And for Cramer Park, Coastal Systems said the entire design was based around the road system, including an earlier, west entrance, which would then circle back out from the current entrance.

The governor, cognizant of the community’s weariness with projects being announced but many times not materializing, said, “I can assure you that this will be implemented and constructed, and if you all know me, it’s not going to take ten years to get done.”

Since that time in June 2016, however, nothing has been said.

Then there’s the infamous Paul E. Joseph Stadium, a project that was halted by the governor just as it was about to start, that up to this day is still mired.

Aside from the lofty promise, the governor took sharp aim at two of his opponents during the campaign launch event — Allison Petrus and Albert Bryan — for comments the men are said to have made on the campaign trail.

“So when Ally Petrus says on the radio even John Doe Idiot would have gotten the $8 billion, it didn’t matter who the governor was — I served with Ally Petrus in the Senate and I have respect for him — and I want to tell him stop saying that because you sound like John Doe Idiot,” Mr. Mapp fired. He later added salt to the wound: “So what we want you to do in this campaign, [is] before you move your tongue, engage your brain.” The crowd erupted with laughter.

On Mr. Bryan, the governor again took aim at the candidate’s slogan “Change Course Now”, stating, “He says it’s too many billions, you got to runaway from that.”

The governor held his second campaign kickoff event in St. Thomas on Saturday night.