WAPA, Currently on Taxpayer-Funded Life Support, Hosts Christmas Party at Castle and Won't Reveal Cost

The Government of the Virgin Islands continues to subsidize the V.I. Water and Power Authority by providing the authority $4 million every month, without which CEO Andrew Smith has said WAPA would essentially fall apart. Even so, WAPA leadership has greenlighted one of the most luxurious and costly locations to hold a Christmas party on St. Croix: the Castle of St. Croix.

The Christmas Party is being held on Dec. 17, according to WAPA Director of Corporate Communication Shanelle Petersen. Asked why a government-owned utility in WAPA's financial condition would choose one of the most luxurious locations for its event, and whether the authority had considered the optics of this decision, Ms. Petersen said the authority wanted to treat its employees as WAPA's last Christmas party was held prior to the year 2020 — when the Covid-19 pandemic impacted the world.

"Those things were taken into consideration; the team have not had a holiday party in over three years and so they wanted to, because of Covid, they wanted to give them this opportunity," Ms. Petersen told the Consortium Tuesday.

She also said that WAPA had searched extensively to find a location but chose the castle after determining there were no other suitable locations available for Dec. 17. "There was no other venue on St. Croix that could host over 200 people unfortunately for the day that we needed, and so they tried extensively to find another venue that was less elaborate but unfortunately that was really the only venue that was available," she said.