July 7, 2001 – There's no doubt about how Source readers believe the Virgin Islands government should deal with the more than $25 million it owes the Water and Power Authority and WAPA's ultimatum to pay up by July 15 or see the lights go out: They say the government should pay the bill.
The vast majority of responses to last week's Source poll favored one of these three options: The goverment should pay the whole bill using windfall tax revenues; it should pay half using windfall revenues and work out a payment plan for the other half; or it should work out a payment plan for the whole amount and stick to it. These options, taken together, won the support of 94 percent of St. Thomas Source, 91 percent of St. Croix Source and 85 percent of St. John Source respondents, for a total of 93 percent overall.
It was the first option — pay the bill outright — that garnered the most votes on all three Source newspapers — 43 percent on St. Thomas, 45 percent on St. Croix and 46 percent on St. John.
However, St. Thomas and St. Croix Source respondents differed significantly on the second option: The idea of paying half now and working out a plan for the rest drew a 24 percent response on St. Thomas but only 16 percent on St. Croix. Meantime, the idea of working out a payment plan for the full amount attracted 27 percent support on St. Thomas and 30 percent on St. Croix.
A total of just 10 respondents (3 percent) liked the idea of the Senate enacting legislation to take WAPA administration out of the hands of a quasi-independent board and put the government squarely in charge. And 16 readers (4 percent) thought the best choice would be to do nothing and hope WAPA is just bluffing. One reader voted for the government to plead poverty and seek an extension.
The question as posed and the total answers for each of the six options presented:
How do you think the V.I. government should deal with the ultimatum from WAPA to pay its bills or face the cut-off of water and power service, except in critical needs areas?
1. Take some of the windfall tax revenues and pay off the full amount.
STT 97, STX 63, STJ 6 = Total 166 (44 percent)
2. Take some of the windfall tax revenues and pay off half and work out a payment plan with WAPA for the other half.
STT 54, STX 23, STJ 3 = Total 80 (21 percent)
3. Work out a payment plan with WAPA and then stick to it religiously.
STT 62, STX 43, STJ 2 = Total 107 (28 percent)
4. Cite the territory's ongoing economic woes and seek an extension.
STT 1, STX 0, STJ 0 = Total 1 (zero percent)
5. Support the proposal of one senator that the Legislature enact legislation to take WAPA's management away from a quasi-governmental body and put it under direct government control.
STT 3, STX 6, STJ 1 = Total 10 (3 percent)
6. Do nothing and hope WAPA doesn't follow through with the threat to cut off service.
STT 9, STX 6, STJ 1 = Total 16 (4 percent)
This is not intended to be a scientific poll. But we feel that, as a rough gauge of how Source readers feel about issues confronting the territory, the results are interesting and worth considering. And we hope that you will consider voting in this week's poll and those to come.