I read in The Source about the "grim picture of Vitelco's infrastructure." According to the article, two-thirds of Vitelco's facilities throughout the Territory are in poor condition and one-third are in fair condition.
What?!
There are software packages so out of date that the manufacturer no longer supports them. The consultant who inspected the facilities also said things are so bad that Vitelco has "even failed to do routing maintenance like clearing bush from around telephone poles."
Here's a telling section of the article:
So here we are arguing about $34 Million for fish farms, and our public utilities are horrible! WAPA cannot pay its bills. Its facilities are run down. And, now we know that the telephone facilities are also in disrepair. Why not use that $34 Million to improve the quality of telephone services?What?!
There are software packages so out of date that the manufacturer no longer supports them. The consultant who inspected the facilities also said things are so bad that Vitelco has "even failed to do routing maintenance like clearing bush from around telephone poles."
Here's a telling section of the article:
Another consultant, Jeffrey Eisenach of the Washington, D.C.-based Empiris LLC, later added that the inability to offer more advanced services like broadband to all its customers has a big economic impact. He said that only 36 percent of people in the Virgin Islands have broadband accessibility compared to 62 percent on the mainland.
"If you closed the gap by 14 percent, you'd get 1,700 new jobs," Eisenach.
As Jeffrey Eisenach said, a close in the gap of 14% would provide 1700 jobs. That's WAY more jobs than the 300 provided by the fish farm. I emailed Dr. Eisenach at Empiris LLC to determine how much it would cost to close the broadband gap by the projected 14%. We'll see if he responds.
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3 comments:
A few quick comments: (1) the infrastructure situation will come as no surprise to anyone who deals with Innovative/Vitelco on a daily basis and who has followed the bankruptcy case revelations; (2) comparison to the St. Croix Aquaculture Project seems off-point, mixing apples and oranges, if you will, but since the comparison is made, consider the following: (a) Aquaculture Project is about economic development on St. Croix, where it is desperately needed; (b) Aquaculture Project provides vital support for agriculture and St. Croix farmers as a side-benefit; (c)Aquaculture Project will produce export products - bring money into the VI, not just circulate money among existing VI businesses; (d)other broadband companies are already in business and expanding rapidly; (e) Innovative/Vitelco is a private company, like Crucian Holdings that wants to develop the St. Croix Aquaculture Project, (f) as a regulated public utility Innovative/Vitelco can always submit a broadband expansion proposal as part of its capital budget to PSC, no need for special financing support, and finally, Aquaculture Project is about creating blue collar employment through economic diversification; jobs for Crucians; broadband industry sounds like jobs for St. Thomas, nothing wrong with that, but St. Croix is where job creation is really needed - Labor Dept. unemployment data for each island bear this out!
Richard P. Bourne-Vanneck, Esq.
Crucian Holdings, LLC
Rich - thanks for posting your thoughts. You're right - it doesn't come as any surprise. As a matter of fact, it seems to be the norm. The surprise is that this information is only now being discussed.
The comparison between this issue and the fish farm is not off-point. The focus of the comparison is not business models, but government process. More specifically, why does the VI Legislature (say they) have $34 Million to entertain this project but they are behind on their WAPA bills. Why does the Legislature have this money to consider investing in your project but they cannot invest in the infrastructure of VI utilities.
Now, you are right - Vitelco can apply for assistance if they need it. And if they haven't, I would again be surprised.
While there will be a side-benefit to St. Croix farmers for your project (which is not belittled or denied), there is a direct benefit to all Virgin Islanders on all islands by investing in this infrastructure development. The comparison is not off-point, because if the Legislature is considering investing in your fish farm because of the 300 added jobs, it's for sure they should be investing in the infrastructure of Vitelco - which would produce more than five times as many jobs (1700 to be exact). It would seem to me (and maybe I'm wrong) that 1700 jobs spread across the entire VI would be of more value than 300 jobs.
Now, being that this is your project I understand why you don't like the comparison. And, you are a business man - that's not the problem. You are entitled to seek assistance, and there's nothing wrong with that. This is not a badgering of you. The problem is with those from whom you are seeking the assistance.
The comparison is not off-point because there are so many fundamental things that need to be addressed before we start exploring projects such as yours. If the Virgin Islands Legislature had taken the initiative on improving WAPA...on improving Vitelco, on basic things such as this...it wouldn't seem so far fetched when they entertain projects such as yours.
The mere fact that Senators will tell you they look at these projects as a means by which to improve the lives of Virgin Islanders renders the project asinine. It seems to me - and I'm sure (in your heart) you'll agree - having a solid infrastructure and reliable utilities does more to improve the lives of Virgin Islanders that a fish farm. With strong infrastructure and reliable utilities, maybe a fish farm would improve the lives of Virgin Islanders...but, I rather have reliable power and modern phone service than fish farms. And, I'm sure most readers would as well. What do you all think?
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Greetings All!
Over the weekend, we received a response from one of the people involved in the report on the dilapidated infrastructure for Vitelco. In addition to the response, an intriguing (31 page) report was also submitted. We are reviewing the report thoroughly in order to give you some more insight into this information!
No other VI news source delves into the issues like Virgin Islands Watch.
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