Dear Source:
This is indeed good news and I was so happy to read that it won't affect the current deal with the Cruzan rum business. Kudos to Governor DeJongh for expediting this most important deal.
That said, we are faced with an immediate devastating prognosis with airline prices rocketing and both wholesale prices and retail prices accordingly rising because of transportation costs. Not to mention the continual problems with WAPA with a 22% increase scheduled for the upcoming billing period and, I'm convinced, more increases in the next few months. Many local businesses are going to founder and I predict there will be an exodus as was evidenced after Hurricanes Marilyn and Hugo when only the strong and those with nowhere else to go survived.
The Governor was handed an enormous pile on his plate and I don't envy his position in trying to right the wrongs of past administrations with their tunnel vision. In response to those who saw him as some "Great Light" for the future, I cautiously posited at the time that the new Governor's tenure wasn't going to be any sort of a wizard act and that he would need time to do any sort of a fix. He has proved a welcome breath of fresh air in utilizing his business acumen in running the territory.
And now it's time for our elected Senators to step up to the plate. And time for our residents with voting rights to do likewise and elect people to the legislature who have less than tunnel vision and less than material interests at heart.
Time for our elected Senators to back on down and not accept the gas-guzzling SUVs given which come out of taxpayer's money. Drive your own cars as the majority on the mainland do to conduct business. You are paid $65K basic salary plus plus plus to conduct the people's business and yet most of you have other businesses as a supplement so you're living very high off the hog at the expense of the rest of us.
Time for them to acknowledge the demands of the voters for a reduction in the number of Senators. The populace voted for that reduction a few years ago but the senators shot it down – gee, wonder why!
The time for real change started donkey's years ago but few paid attention and now the fan is really starting to gather a whole bunch of dirt and everyone will be in a real tizz-wazz a few months from now.
Anna Clarke
St Thomas
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