Governor de Jongh has called a special meeting with Senators at Government House on Sunday morning to give an update on the sale of the HOVENSA refinery, Senator Sammuel Sanes has revealed. The meeting will start at 11 a.m.
Speaking to VI Consortium today, Sanes said the governor did not relay more information apart from making known what the meeting will be about.
“Unfortunately, the governor did not disclosed any information,” Sanes said. “Basically, he stated that when we gather there, he will update us on the process. But other than that, nothing else was received.”
Sanes said he, like everyone else, was only privy to the rumors making the rounds; however, he was looking forward to the upcoming meeting “to see if we could get something concrete.”
For months, St. Croix residents have been curious about the progress of the sale of the shuttered refinery, with many hoping it would be sold and reopened in a timely fashion so that more jobs could become available on the island.
Virgin Islanders were greeted with difficult news in January 2012 when the owners of HOVENSA announced the refinery would shut down, a reality that saw over 2,000 employees being made without jobs. The decision led to talks between refinery owners and the Government of the Virgin Islands, and after a lengthy deliberation process that lasted for over a year, the Fourth Amendment Agreement became a reality.
The agreement had HOVENSA accepting a sales process for the refinery with aid from an established investment banking firm, Lazard. As part of the deal, the Government of the Virgin Islands would allow HOVENSA to operate in the interim as an oil-storage terminal.
Tags: hovensa refinery sale, hovensa st croix, hovensa st croix sale
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