Lt. Gov. Tregenza Roach delivered news Monday that, on almost any other day, might have been met with applause. But even new direct flights to St. Croix and a potential $400 million luxury resort — with a public land clawback – on Water Island couldn’t outshine the districtwide power outage darkening St. Thomas and St. John since Saturday.
The contrast between infrastructure demands and efforts to pull in tourists had been cast into even starker relief Sunday. Enormous LED-lit banners at New York City’s Citi Field flashed advertisements for the Virgin Islands precisely as mainland newspapers published an Associated Press article about the blackout.
Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. was at the game, photographed in a private suite with ice cream served in a miniature Mets helmet cup.
Roach downplayed the disparity at the press conference Monday afternoon, saying the Virgin Islands had capacity to both manage its internal infrastructure needs and launch large-scale advertising efforts to draw the tourists vital to the territory’s economy.
Roach likened the Virgin Islands’ predicament to working on a moving train, with many parts in motion, all needing attention.
“I know people are frustrated. I am frustrated as well. When the power goes off, it is not a small inconvenience,” Roach said. “Our residents have every right to expect better. Reliable power is not a luxury. It is a basic necessity and every outage reminds us how much work remains to be done to strengthen the system and restore confidence.”
Roach disagreed with calls for the territory to petition Washington for help. Locally, Sen. Ray Fonseca asked legislators to pass a resolution urging Bryan to reach out for federal help and Sen. Kenneth Gittens called for a forensic audit of the Water and Power Authority. Congressional Delegate Stacey Plaskett’s gubernatorial campaign issued a statement urging Bryan to request a state of emergency declaration.
Roach, however, said Virgin Islanders were capable of taking care of the WAPA problems.
“I do not agree with the call for federal intervention,” he said.
Bryan was in New York to speak at a Caribbean Tourism Organization conference, getting face time with other tourism deciders, Roach said.
“This is one of the region’s premier tourism gatherings, bringing together Caribbean leaders, tourism ministers and commissioners, and industry executives to discuss the future of Caribbean tourism, airlift, investment, culture, resilience, and regional competitiveness,” he said.
Similar efforts led to Roach’s first big announcement, he said: new direct United Airlines flights between Newark and St. Croix set to start Oct. 31.
The weekly 126-passenger flights were a “major milestone for St. Croix,” Tourism Commissioner Jennifer Matarangas-King said in a written statement earlier Monday. “As someone born and raised on St. Croix, I know firsthand how transformative direct connectivity to the New York market can be for our community, our businesses and our tourism economy,” Matarangas-King said.
Roach said it was a step toward achieving the island’s economic potential, one that required marketing St. Croix in a distinct and different fashion than St. Thomas and St. John.
“Economic development on St. Croix must have its own character and not simply follow the plan we’ve had for the St. Thomas-St. John District,” he said. “This island has a story worth telling and an experience worth sharing with the world.”
Would-be investors have presented the 36th Legislature with a proposal for a branded luxury resort on Water Island, another island with a story.
Coral Gables, Florida-based Bluewater Global Advisors — not Hermon Wouk — put a proposal before the Legislature to consider an 88-room hotel, restaurants, spa, marina, and up to 100 private residences, Roach said. Once operational, the hotel would likely produce up to $5 million annually in occupancy tax revenue.
“The project is more than a resort. It is a development that combines tourism, infrastructure, employee housing, and much needed community investment,” he said.
Roach said the project required at least $300 million to get going but would likely climb closer to $400 million. He said it “speaks to progress, investment, and long-term economic growth.”
The 100% self-sustaining project would create roughly 200 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs, he said. It would add roads, drainage, utilities, and marine facilities.
“That means new revenue, new jobs, new infrastructure, and new economic activity without placing a new tax burden on Virgin Islanders,” Roach said.
The project would not impede public access to the Honeymoon Beach, popular with readers of Wouk’s book Don’t Stop the Carnival as a place to see the, perhaps mythological, green flash at sundown.
The beach and the tract of land directly above it would be removed from the existing land lease and returned to the government of the Virgin Islands.
“This is the type of private investment the Virgin Islands should be competing for: a project that creates jobs, expands our tourism product, strengthens infrastructure, protects public access, and generates long-term revenue for the government of the Virgin Islands,” Roach said. “Projects of this scale do not come around every day.”
Roach said it was up to the legislature to conduct their due diligence on the project. He was not aware of a potential timeline, he said.
