Rudolph Krigger, special assistant to the governor on fiscal matters, told members of the St. Thomas-St. John Chamber of Commerce Monday that, as far as the administration is concerned, "This is a good deal." He was referring to the proposed agreement between Southern Energy Inc. and the Water and Power Authority.
He immediately addressed the question of why there have been no other bidders on the purchase of WAPA. The reason, he said, is that Southern approached the administration. WAPA was never "on the block," he said.
In fact, he said, when Southern approached the administration, the company was told to go to the WAPA board first.
The WAPA trustees decided that "there was value to the offer," according to Krigger.
A lawsuit brought by a St. Croix resident challenges the proposed sale on the grounds that bids were not sought.
In support of the agreement negotiated between Southern Energy and an administration team for SEI to acquire 80 percent of WAPA, he said, "The government should not be involved in areas where a private company can do a better job."
He added that the government needs to move away from being the "employer of first and last resort."
Krigger and Dave Dunbar, the chief Southern Energy negotiator, addressed a luncheon meeting of the chamber. John P. deJongh, chamber president, said Krigger was there to answer questions on behalf of the administration.
Under the proposed agreement, Krigger said, the government would realize a steady revenue stream from the 20 percent of WAPA that it would retain. He said the revenue might be used to fund the Government Development Bank.
He said Gov. Charles W. Turnbull would send the proposed agreement to the Senate for consideration "extremely shortly." When pressed to be more specific, he repeated, "extremely shortly."
He also said Government House has been polling senators in an ongoing process to determine their degree of support for the agreement.
