Dear Source:

There is no question that the local government has dropped the ball too often and for too long over too many years. Is there some hope for the future?
Our present Governor is the most "upfront" leader I've seen in years. It seems obvious that he has a vision and he had that vision from the moment he announced his candidacy.
In order for the Virgin Islands to survive economically, the local graft and corruption and the paybacks and kickbacks have to be stopped. Development has to be curtailed. Our power provider is in dire straits with antedeluvian equipment and no real future vision. The VI Government needs to settle its WAPA debt of $22 million NOW and WAPA needs to come up with a plan to use that money to upgrade its equipment in order to reduce the constant outages and brownouts. The more grandiose developments, which are allowed, put more load on the WAPA resources, which are minimal at best. Small business owners, particularly those who rely upon refrigeration, simply can't afford to purchase a commercial generator so their business is lost. Same for local residents on the economic borderline. While the affluent can afford mega-generators, the average local homeowners can, if they're lucky, scrape by with a relatively inexpensive unit, but why should anybody have to? Obviously in times of crisis, as in major hurricanes, life goes topsy-turvy and we deal with that. But this is about general day to day life, which is becoming increasingly difficult for the average local family.
Education continues to flounder, health care continues to flounder, government debt escalates, taxes increase all the time with little to show for it. The roads are horrible and those patch repairs disintegrate within weeks of the "quick-fix" repairs. Crime statistics continue to rise unabated and the elected representatives who supposedly represent the people of the Virgin Islands seem to care more about maintaining their elevated personal standard of living and how to improve upon it even more than they seem to care about not only those who they allegedly represent but the environment in which they live. No place is perfect but the US Virgin Islands still do have a small chance of becoming the true American paradise if only the elected representatives would have something other than the tunnel vision which has been their downfall for so long.
Marie Antoinette's famous quote of, "let them eat cake" during the French revolution eventually led her to the guillotine. I'm not suggesting that our legislative body be subjected to a guillotine in Market Square but surely it's time for it to dispense with the same-old and develop a more global vision before the rape and pillage of these islands leads to their downfall?
Hope springs eternal! In hope, I wish everyone a joyous holiday season and hope that the New Year inspires some real introspection and positive action on the part of the residents and their elected representatives to band together and seek positive change.

Anna Clarke
St. Thomas

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