CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) continued to put more men, trucks and equipment in St. Thomas in its goal to restore full electricity to the capital island before St. Croix.
And based on Gov. Kenneth Mapp’s plan to put a priority on St. Croix’s subgrade public schools and failing students, WAPA is directing subcontractors to clear debris at those educational institutions rather than preparing residential neighborhoods ready to receive power.
“Once the debris are cleared from all of St. Croix’s public schools and the schools are ready to receive the students, the pumping stations still will not work meaning that children could be subjected to a catastrophic health hazard,” one source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Mapp’s plan is bass-ackwards. It is a recipe for certain disaster — and children will more likely suffer as a result it. They could be exposed to raw sewage and get cholera, dysentery, typhoid or even Guinea worm because of his error in judgment. Mapp wants to be able to say politically that ‘the children come first.’ But if you put my child in an unhealthy environment, can you really say that you put the children first? Mapp doesn’t have any children … and he doesn’t really care about kids … you can tell.”
Meanwhile, the world gets the wrong impression of the territory.
“Mapp is telling the whole world: ‘The business of St. Croix is its failed academic system.’ What he should be saying is: “The business of St. Croix is business … and we will soon be open for business (Nov. 10).’ Businesses and taxpayers should come first, but because Mapp does not pay his taxes, he doesn’t understand this philosophy.”
The Department of Health on St. Croix issued a statement today saying that it is continuing to provide essential services to the island despite “electrical issues.”
“During an inspection of the Charles Harwood Complex’s (CHC) transfer switch on St. Croix, yesterday (Tuesday, October 17, 2017) an explosion occurred, causing power failure to the building,” the Health Department said. “As a result, there is currently no electricity at the CHC. An individual conducting the inspection experienced severe burn injuries. No Department of Health staff was injured. An investigation of the incident is underway; once the investigation is completed the transfer switch will be repaired.”
WAPA refuses to release accurate statistics that show the percentage of electrical restoration on all three major islands.
But the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said that 16 percent of St. Thomas had been connected with electricity as of Oct. 18. By the same date, some 1.6 percent of WAPA’s 4,000 customers have power on St. Croix.
HURRICANE RESTORATION UPDATE
ELECTRIC SYSTEM
• Restoration and reconstruction work continued by WAPA Line Department personnel, as well as on-island and off-island contractors in both districts on Tuesday.
• On St. John, crews continued efforts to prepare the Cruz Bay area for power restoration. Work focused on the areas surrounding the St. John Fire Station and the potable water standpipe.
• On St. Croix, restoration work included planting new poles on the paths of Feeders 1A and 2A, while clean-up crews continued clearing school campuses of hurricane debris. There was also reconstruction and clean-up work carried out Tuesday along Feeder 8B in Hannah’s Rest as well as on Feeders 6A and 6B.
• On St. Thomas, crews worked in Lindbergh Bay, and along the highway from Petrus Plaza west toward Cancryn Junior High School. Portions of Feeder 7A were energized as were the Departments of Tourism and Finance office buildings.
• Crews from Western Area Power Administration made additional progress on a transmission feeder that will facilitate electrical service being restored to the WAPA East End Substation over the next few days. This will allow for subsequent service restoration to the Red Hook and Nazareth areas and also St. John.
• WAPA personnel has removed electrical meters at locations where damage was apparent to either an electrical meter base and/or weather head. In these instances, the customer is responsible for all repairs. WAPA will not reinstall meters until repairs are made and certified by a licensed electrician. Home and business owners are advised to make repairs to their damaged weather heads and or meter bases as soon as possible. Once crews have reached your neighborhood, those customers who have not had their weather head or meter base repaired, will not have service immediately restored.
POTABLE WATER SYSTEM
• There are four days of emergency water storage on St. John, eight days on St. Thomas and three days on St. Croix.
• On St. John, repairs are pending at the Cruz Bay pump station. Until these repairs are completed, the town of Cruz Bay is being provided potable water service from St. Thomas. Water crews will flush the system early Wednesday to address reports of water discoloration.
• On St. Croix, water pressure will continue to increase over the next few days in Frederiksted and other west-end communities. Clean up contractors and homeowners are reminded to exercise caution when piling debris on and around potable water meters. There are a growing number of instances where water meters are being damaged by cleaning up equipment grading the debris and causing damage to the water meters. The damage caused by heavy equipment poses difficulty in maintaining or restoring water service to customers.
• On St. Thomas, water service has been interrupted to Contant Knolls housing community, Contant and surrounding areas. Crews are working to restore faulty pumps at the Contant station which failed on Monday night.
OTHER INFORMATION
• Emergency Call Centers operate 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., seven days a week.
St. Thomas – St. John district, 340-774-1424; St. Croix district, 340-773-0150
• WAPA telephone contact: St. Thomas – St. John district, 340-774-3552; St. Croix district, 340-773-2250
• Customer Service Offices operate Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Sunny Isle on St. Croix and at Port of Sale Mall on St. Thomas
• WAPA website: www.viwapa.vi
• Facebook: Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority