We listened recently to Delegate Donna Christian-Christensen attempt to explain to the House of Representatives how the government of the Virgin Islands has sunk into a state of near-financial collapse.
In the discussions of problems, both internal and external, including 100-year hurricanes, we noted the absence of any reference to corruption.
We don't blame the delegate for not mentioning this "elephant in the living room." It would be improper and unseemly for her to air our dirty linen in public.
But many audit reports point clearly to illegal activities by government officials and employees, often in concert with private business people — reports that have been turned over to the Attorney General's Office for prosecution.
As we also listened recently to the Finance commissioner refer to overriding the finance system for 10 years to pay money to the Housing Finance Authority that had not been allotted to it, that word — corruption — came clearly to mind again.
Federal funds totaling $120 million were "borrowed" or "disappeared" during the previous administration and have never been accounted for. Illegal? We think so. Corrupt? We are sure.
A "trust fund" established by law, set up for and paid into by physicians for protection against malpractice suits, is empty. The money paid by the physicians was never put into the trust fund. It was apparently commandeered into the bottomless pit of the General Fund. The absence of money in the fund has jeopardized the ability of injured parties to collect settlements; and physicians (who literally paid their dues) may have to pay attorneys to defend them even though they paid into a fund to do just that.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines corruption as "moral deterioration." It is hard to say when the deterioration started, but we think most Virgin Islanders would agree it is full-blown in the territory now.
The examples mentioned are but a few in a long history of greed, fraud and corruption. So let's name it and do something about it.
What are we waiting for — more audit reports and stories of blatant corruption?
Name it. Own it. Prosecute it and stop it.
