A U.S. Virgin Islands senator has introduced a bill to appoint a “special investigator” to look into malfeasance and corruption at the islands’ financially struggling Water and Power Authority.
The bill would require a thorough examination of the authority’s contracts, leases, billing practices, professionals’ credit card use, and its loss of $2 million to an offshore account.
WAPA’s most senior electrical system bonds are rated Caa2 by Moody’s Investors Service and CCC by Fitch Ratings.
As of Dec. 31, WAPA had $190 million of electrical system revenue bonds and unamortized bond premiums and a total of $1.143 billion of liabilities, according to its own unaudited financial statement.
Passage of Sen. Kenneth Gittens’ bill would lead to the appointment of a special investigator to review concerns related to WAPA and make prosecutorial recommendations to the Virgin Islands attorney general and the U.S. attorney. The investigator would have the power to issue subpoenas for evidence and witnesses and to engage government auditors and personnel as necessary.
“We have uncovered a great deal of malfeasance and a general lack of accountability at WAPA without any real resolution or prosecution of those responsible,” Gittens said. “The more we learn, the more concerned I grow about how these issues are being handled given the legislature’s limited ability to address WAPA’s internal operations and the governor’s vetoes of the legislation we passed to create an oversight entity.
“At this point we require a special investigation and expert analysis of these problematic deals and financial transactions,” Gittens said.
Gittens in a Democrat representing St. Croix. The Senate is the single house of the Virgin Islands’ legislature.
Gittens said he would introduce the bill to the Senate’s Government Operations & Consumer Protection Committee, where it will be discussed on Aug. 6.
“We will have to pay for this investigation, but the cost is very low relative to the waste and fraud we are already aware of at WAPA,” Gittens said. “We must stop the bleeding and hold those in charge accountable.”
In May the Senate passed legislation that would have given the islands’ Public Service Commission more control over WAPA and would have required the hiring of a turnaround management company to review WAPA and the implementation of the company’s recommendations.
Later that month Governor Albert Bryan Jr. vetoed the bills, saying they ran against the island’s constitution.