Dear Source,
The conditions in St. Croix never cease to amaze me. I visited the island last week to attend a relative's funeral and was sadly surprised to see the deteriorating conditions of Christiansted, along with a couple of other disturbing situations.
On Tuesday, I happen to be traveling along the Charles Harwood Memorial Hospital area when I found myself in the middle of a huge crowd of people who were standing around staring at the most recent victim of a violent crime. The young man had just been shot, allegedly by three masked individuals. He was lying dead, flat on his back, while everyone stood around discussing the crime.
Then, Saturday morning, a young woman, mother of three, was shot and killed, allegedly by her boyfriend.
But the most disgusting, gross thing I witnessed was a man who appeared to be a Rastafarian stooping under the Wendy's sign on Sunday morning around 11:30, defecating while people were at Wendy's having lunch. He did his business right there, then pulled up his pants and proceeded to use his feet to cover his mess with some dirt. He then scraped whatever stuck to his sneakers against the curb and went on his merry way.
Is that what our tourists, or what little is left of tourism on St. Croix, are likely to experience" The term "gone to the dogs" seems to fit, and that is very disturbing. I don't know what is going to become of St. Croix, and that is truly sad. As if the crime situation were not bad enough, now using public places as toilets is an added attraction.
I hope that someday the Virgin Islands will once again have a government that can bring back some decency, for the sake of all the hard-working residents who are frustrated and somewhat ashamed of the conditions of their home.
God bless the Virgin Islands
Nilsa Baird
Durham, N.C.
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