The V.I. government is continuing to try to negotiate away major portions of its indebtedness. Attorney General Iver Stridiron spent much of this week in Washington for meetings with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to talk about plans by the federal government to forgive the territory's $9.7 million debt to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Stridiron said as he departed for Washington that the federal government has agreed to forgive the loan if the territory removes all inmates currently housed in federal penitentiaries.
Inmates sentenced under Virgin Islands law were first incarcerated in federal institutions in 1989 following Hurricane Hugo, which severely damaged the Golden Grove Correctional Facility. Their stay was to have been no more than a few months on the mainland.
However, more than 10 years and millions of dollars later, inmates from the territory remain housed by the feds. Washington wants to be paid if the territory expects to continue receiving the full amounts of federal grants.
Stridiron said the V.I. Justice Department, which has oversight of the Bureau of Corrections, has done everything requested by the Bureau of Prisons.
"We have returned all but 21 of the inmates and of the remaining amount, half will go to a state-run prison in Virginia and the remainder will be returned to St. Croix," he said. "We are looking forward to a forgiveness of the debt by Janet Reno, who has the ultimate authority to do so."
