The personal use of government vehicles must stop, acting Gov. Gerard Luz James II said Wednesday.
"As I travel around the islands in the evenings and on weekends and holidays, I have noticed a number of government vehicles on the road, on the beaches and in supermarket parking lots," James said. "This must be discontinued immediately."
In February, as part of his cost-cutting measures, Gov. Charles W. Turnbull said that authorization for use of vehicles after working hours, for all but department heads and emergency vehicles, could only come from the governor. He directed the V.I. Police Department to "stop and hold" any vehicle that was being used without authorization.
Turnbull is in Washington this week meeting with federal officials, leaving the lieutenant governor as acting governor.
James told department heads to inform employees that they are not authorized to use government vehicles after hours, according to a release from Government House.
Bruce Hamlin, acting assistant Police commissioner, said to his knowledge no one has been picked up or stopped yet for unauthorized use of government vehicles.
"We're in the process now of getting information from the various agencies about who is authorized to use the vehicles," Hamlin said. "They will be issued color coded stickers to put on the windshields. We expect to have that process completed by the end of this month."
