Government

Bryan's New Plan to Expedite $15 Billion in Recovery Funds: Billion-Dollar Bundles for Procurement

To successfully implement and complete a mountain of disaster recovery projects, the USVI needs a “paradigm shift,” Governor Albert Bryan Jr. stated during his State of the Territory address on Monday.  Discussing specific challenges restricting disaster recovery almost 7 years after hurricanes Irma and Maria, Mr. Byran highlighted the absence of “enough contractors, enough workers, or enough housing.” He lamented to the listening audience that “at the present pace, it will take us another 20 years to complete the recovery and that is simply not good enough.” The need for change, he said, inspired the creation of the “Rebuild USVI” initiative. By way of explanation, Governor Bryan shared that Rebuild USVI is being developed to expedite the timeline for this massive reconstruction effort.” Reconstruction work will total $15 billion or more, said the governor. As the administration attempts to “expend a billion dollars a year solely in disaster recovery funds,” the governor announced ...