CHRISTIANSTED — Governor Albert Bryan, Jr. celebrated the profession of electrical linemen this week for “National Lineman Appreciation Day” today.
Bryan said that he wishes to honor all Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) line personnel, and linemen who remain in the territory following the post-hurricane restoration for their exemplary service to the territory and its residents.
The profession requires skill, knowledge, passion, dedication, ongoing training, and a willingness to be on call 24 hours a day to keep the two independent electrical grids energized on St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix and Water Island 365 days a year.
“Linemen play a vital role in ensuring a quality of life for Virgin Islands residents by maintaining our electrical infrastructure. They put their lives on the line every day,” Bryan said. “The people of the U.S. Virgin Islands owe a great debt to the linemen working on each island for their hard work and especially their work to restore electricity to our homes, hospitals, schools, and businesses after the territory was affected by two catastrophic category-five hurricanes in September of 2017.”
The U.S. Virgin Islands has weathered storms for decades and recognizes linemen as first responders during extreme weather events like hurricanes and rely on linemen in the immediate aftermath of unpredictable natural disasters like an earthquake or tsunami.
Today, April 18, on National Lineman Appreciation Day, Governor Bryan said he is encouraging residents to reflect on the hard work these men and women did to quickly restore electricity on each island before Christmas in 2017.
Governor Albert Bryan, Jr. talks to an unidentified linemen in the U.S. Virgin Islands on National Lineman Appreciation Day.
With all that money WAPA has gotten at least buy those guys & girls some new uniforms… Those uniforms have exceeded their life span.
If one of those guys came to work by my property, I would of think they were crooks wearing old clothing that a WAPA employee might of had thrown away.
WAPA them boys and girls in desperate need of some new uniforms. The unidentified man is in a industrial site with worn out sneakers and no steel toe boots and a uniform that has about 10 years of use. CRAZYYYY!!!