Dear Source:
Once again WAPA is attempting to increase the community's electric bill. I would like to know when the Government is going to pay WAPA all the long overdue monies on past bills for the services WAPA did already provided to them. Due to their ineptness at paying their bills, WAPA is forced to keep attempting to raise the bills on the community. Why are the persons not held responsible for making sure these bills are paid during their term of managing these Depts.? Why is no one answering to those debts that have been incurred? What happened to the monies that should have been allocated and paid to utilities? What did it go to? Why is WAPA still providing services to Depts. that have unpaid bills? Will it take a permanent shutdown of electricity for everyone to understand WAPA as a business can't run on air? Will the consumer be paying the price for bad management of the inept, behind in payments, Gov't Depts.?
As of present, how much monies does the Gov't still owe WAPA for back debts? WAPA wants to raise their prices. Waste Management wants to tax us too yet more bins are disappearing off the roadside for consumers to dump their garbage to before an alternative is put in place. Whatever is taxed to businesses ultimately the consumers will pay for. Properties taxes are adding even more to the problem. A source is needed to pay the extra millions the Legislature approved the budgets on with invisible funding sources. Approving a budget should be based on realistic existing funding, not coming up with funding sources after the fact. Why was a budget approved if no source of funding existed at the time it was approved? We are already under the strains of a high cost of living in every direction without services to match the costs.
Maybe the 45 million for government wages should instead be allocated for Government debts on electrical services that can affect the entire community to ensure WAPA does not buckle and we don't end up with a permanent blackout. But then again, electricity can't vote, can it. With senators pay raises as an issue, the recent public dismay over education, one has to wonder, is this an attempt to win back votes with an unhappy public more so than fiscal responsibilities.
How many more indictments are going to come up with embezzlement, fraud, conspiracies, stealing from the Gov't, Federal Funds, and people of the Virgin Islands? How much more funds are missing and positions abused? With so much of this coming into the light now, what procedures are being put in place to ensure the stealing of funds, abuse of powers and positions does not continue? What is in place to make sure the current managers are paying the utility bills that should be paid so that the debt to WAPA by the Gov't does not continue to grow? Are the current managers ensuring this does not continue? Should the senators be allowed to spend monies on caller ID (which is not a real necessity) when large debts are still owed to WAPA? I think it would be ridiculous to waste monies on this when debts still exists.
Until Gov't becomes streamlined, runs efficiently, makes realistic decisions on actual existing fundings, pay its bills on time, assures that no position can be abused, no monies can be stolen, etc, etc, we are going to keep paying a high price for it all. The weight of it all is burying businesses and causing people of this community to struggle too much. How much does the people of the VI have to pay for? How are we going to pay for it when many of us are surviving paycheck to paycheck? When is the burying of the VI People going to stop?
Carol Berry
St. Thomas
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