{"id":27134,"date":"2015-08-19T11:18:51","date_gmt":"2015-08-19T11:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=27134"},"modified":"2015-08-19T11:24:10","modified_gmt":"2015-08-19T11:24:10","slug":"mapp-kills-fatally-flawed-inter-island-ferryboat-travel-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134","title":{"rendered":"Mapp Kills ‘Fatally Flawed’ Inter-Island Ferryboat Travel Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. THOMAS — Governor Kenneth Mapp has vetoed\u00a0bill\u00a0No. 31-0137<\/a><\/span> \u2014 an act establishing the Virgin Islands Ferryboat Fund as a separate and distinct fund in the Treasury of the Virgin Islands, calling the measure “fatally flawed.”<\/p>\n

The measure sought to reestablish affordable ferry travel between St. Croix and St. Thomas, which came to a halt several years ago.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by Senate President Neville James, the bill saw universal support from the senators, some of whom asked that their names be added to the measure. They also highlighted the many benefits a revival of ferry service between the islands would bring to the territory.<\/p>\n

According to Acting Commissioner of the Department of Public Works \u00a0(DPW), Gustav James, who was summoned to give testimony on the measure during a hearing in early July<\/a><\/span>, the government had already secured $7.5 million to purchase three vessels costing between $8-$10 million each. However, James said the process of searching for the first vessel had already commenced since they intended to purchase the ferryboats as funding became available.<\/p>\n

Funds for the service, according to the bill, would be provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration Ferryboats and Terminal, and monies provided from \u201ctime-to-time\u201d by the Legislature would remain in the fund until expended. The bill also charges the commissioner of \u00a0finance to submit quarterly reports of the fund\u2019s disbursements and its \u201cunobligated balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in a release issued late Tuesday revealing the governor’s action on numerous bills, Mapp contended that the measure was flawed because a section within the legislation that says “all funds,” represents a broad reference that includes federal grants — the latter of which cannot be appropriated by the Legislature “for deposits into named funds of the Government of the Virgin Islands.”<\/p>\n

Senators were excited about the prospects of inter-island travel that would once more be affordable.<\/p>\n

At the July hearing, At-Large Sen. Almando \u201cRocky\u201d Liburd said he would like to see the project come to life because it would finally unite residents of the territory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is an excellent idea, but I just want to caution people that this is not a cheap idea,\u201d said the At-Large senator. Liburd said the service\u2019s success would be dependent on the quality of the ride, so making sure that the right boats were purchased would have been of utmost importance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably the best thing that could happen to the Virgin Islands because we\u2019re going to bring our islands together,\u201d he added. \u201cWe will bring our people together. This St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John will end, because people can travel at a reasonable rate. So make it a real priority because you\u2019re going to see a change in the way we live.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Feature Image: $8 million ferryboat similar to what the VI Government was considering.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. THOMAS — Governor Kenneth Mapp has vetoed\u00a0bill\u00a0No. 31-0137 \u2014 an act establishing the Virgin Islands Ferryboat Fund as a separate and distinct fund in the Treasury of the Virgin Islands, calling the measure “fatally flawed.” The measure sought to reestablish affordable ferry travel between St. Croix and St. Thomas, which came to a halt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[191,2474,147],"tags":[3002,3001,1055,121],"yoast_head":"\nMapp Kills 'Fatally Flawed' Inter-Island Ferryboat Travel Bill - V.I. Consortium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ST. THOMAS -- Governor Kenneth Mapp has vetoed bill No. 31-0137 \u2014 an act establishing the Virgin Islands Ferryboat Fund as a separate and distinct fund...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ernice Gilbert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134\",\"name\":\"Mapp Kills 'Fatally Flawed' Inter-Island Ferryboat Travel Bill - V.I. Consortium\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-19T11:18:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-19T11:24:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51\"},\"description\":\"ST. THOMAS -- Governor Kenneth Mapp has vetoed bill No. 31-0137 \u2014 an act establishing the Virgin Islands Ferryboat Fund as a separate and distinct fund...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mapp Kills ‘Fatally Flawed’ Inter-Island Ferryboat Travel Bill\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/\",\"name\":\"V.I. Consortium\",\"description\":\"Uniting the Caribbean\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51\",\"name\":\"Ernice Gilbert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ernice Gilbert\"},\"description\":\"I wear many hats, I suppose, but the one which fits me best would be journalism, second to that would be radio personality, thirdly singer\/songwriter and down the line. I've been the Editor-In-Chief at my videogames website, Gamesthirst, for over 5 years, writing over 7,000 articles and more than 2 million words. I'm also very passionate about where I live, the United States Virgin Islands, and I'm intent on making it a better place by being resourceful and keeping our leaders honest. VI Consortium was birthed out of said desire, hopefully my efforts bear fruit. Reach me at ernice@viconsortium.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/ernicegilbert.com\/\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mapp Kills 'Fatally Flawed' Inter-Island Ferryboat Travel Bill - V.I. Consortium","description":"ST. THOMAS -- Governor Kenneth Mapp has vetoed bill No. 31-0137 \u2014 an act establishing the Virgin Islands Ferryboat Fund as a separate and distinct fund...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ernice Gilbert","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134","url":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134","name":"Mapp Kills 'Fatally Flawed' Inter-Island Ferryboat Travel Bill - V.I. Consortium","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-08-19T11:18:51+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-19T11:24:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51"},"description":"ST. THOMAS -- Governor Kenneth Mapp has vetoed bill No. 31-0137 \u2014 an act establishing the Virgin Islands Ferryboat Fund as a separate and distinct fund...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=27134#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mapp Kills ‘Fatally Flawed’ Inter-Island Ferryboat Travel Bill"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#website","url":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/","name":"V.I. Consortium","description":"Uniting the Caribbean","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d227a4a2478d096447391f7d05afcb51","name":"Ernice Gilbert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50e9900b9c4e146fd5fb7b811fb4a06e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ernice Gilbert"},"description":"I wear many hats, I suppose, but the one which fits me best would be journalism, second to that would be radio personality, thirdly singer\/songwriter and down the line. I've been the Editor-In-Chief at my videogames website, Gamesthirst, for over 5 years, writing over 7,000 articles and more than 2 million words. I'm also very passionate about where I live, the United States Virgin Islands, and I'm intent on making it a better place by being resourceful and keeping our leaders honest. VI Consortium was birthed out of said desire, hopefully my efforts bear fruit. Reach me at ernice@viconsortium.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/ernicegilbert.com\/"],"url":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27134"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}