Bryan, Vialet Trade Jabs, Share Vision For USVI in Last Gubernatorial Debate Ahead of Nov. 8 Election
The long-awaited gubernatorial debate between incumbent Governor Albert Bryan Jr. and Senator Kurt A. Vialet lasted an hour-and-a-half and was laced with policy questions about the future trajectory of the U.S. Virgin Islands. NOTE: WTJX suffered a technical failure with a portion of their on-air broadcast of last night’s debate. They will re-air it in its entirety tonight at 8:30 pm.
2022-10-14 12:45:58 - VI News Staff
It was a battle against a man who, along with Lieutenant hopeful Janelle K. Sarauw, says he wants to lead a team that plans to improve the quality of life for residents of the territory, and an incumbent governor who says he wants to continue the work that he and Lieutenant Tregenza Roach started almost four years ago.
On Thursday night, the two men tussled over questions of healthcare and the delay of the JFL North, the temporary modular hospital north of the main facility; the future of education; the diversification of the economy; mental illness; the development of rum distilleries; and crime, in what was to be the final debate until the November 8, General Elections.
Thousands of online viewers tuned in to the 2022 Gubernational Debate on Thursday night which was hosted by The V.I. Consortium and WTJX at the Good Hope Country Day School Pavilion on St. Croix, and moderated by VIC Publisher Ernice Gilbert.
Both Mr. Bryan and Mr. Vialet lashed out at each other with accusations of corruption during the debate, with the senator accusing the governor of providing contracts to his friends and close allies, while the governor gave similar pressure, and at one point said Mr. Vialet took $2.5 million from the JFL Hospital to “put in his palace of a Legislature."
What about our health?
The first round of debate focused on the issue of healthcare and zeroed-in on the opening of the temporary JFL North hospital, which received the notice to proceed in July 2018 and was supposed to be completed no later than the end of 2019.
Mr. Bryan admitted that the executive team had “run into a lot of problems” with JFL North over the past four years. He insisted however that his team had “fast tracked” the planning of the new hospital all while battling with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to secure funds to build it.
“And just when we’re about to hook it up, we learned that if we did, the whole hospital would fail,” he said, stating that instead they decided to “err on the side of caution” to ensure that everything was ready before it is made operational.
Mr. Vialet argued that JFL North's protracted delay was a result of the administration's poor management. “The FFEs (furniture, fixtures, equipment) languished in the territorial board for over a year before they made a decision as to be able to execute that contract to purchase FFEs for JFL North,” he said.
“One year, 10 months ago we [Legislature] had a meeting with the governor in which we asked as to whether or not there was a need for monies from the Legislature to expedite the opening of JFL North, and the answer was 'I got it under control’. One year, 10 months later, we still hearing excuses as to when it’s going to open,” he said.
It was in response to Mr. Vialet’s rebuttal that Mr. Bryan accused him of taking $2.5 million from the hospital and appropriating it towards expanding the Legislature. Mr. Vialet did not respond to the accusation, instead he focused on pressuring the governor on JFL North.
The administration says JFL North will open in November.