Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd says there should be money in the government coffers from six years ago for the construction of a St. John vendors plaza — unless it's been diverted for other uses.
When St. John mobile food vendors said at a Licensing and Consumer Affairs meeting Tuesday night that they're waiting for long-announced plans to create a Cruz Bay plaza to materialize, island administrator Julien Harley advised them to take their concerns to their elected representatives.
Harley also was quoted in published reports as saying the government apparently cannot fund such a plaza at present and that, as a possible alternative, he has been in conversation with potential private investors about developing a multi-purpose building that could accommodate vendors.
However, Liburd said in a letter to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull dated Wednesday and released to the media Thursday that the Legislature appropriated $300,000 back in 1994 for construction of a St. John vendors center and parking facility. He asked the governor to look into whether the earmarked money is "still available."
At Tuesday's meeting, "Residents were urged to contact their senators to lobby for a vendors plaza," Liburd wrote. "The Legislature, however, has already done [its] part. . . It is now in the hands of the executive branch."
St. John, Liburd wrote, has "some of the best craftsmen, cooks and artists in the territory. With the construction of the vendors plaza, many of our local people will finally have the opportunity to showcase their different wares."
