HUD Approves Latest USVI Disaster Recovery Plan Totaling $779 Million; Funding Comes With 'Strict Fiscal Controls'

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced its approval of the U.S. Virgin Islands' latest disaster recovery action plan, which will invest an additional $779 million to help the state continue to rebuild from Hurricanes Maria and Irma, according to a HUD release issued this evening. The plan was put in place during the Mapp administration, and funding of $243 million was released in September, 2018. At the time, Mr. Carson and then-Governor Kenneth Mapp said two more releases of $846 million and more than $700 million had already been set aside for the territory as part of the $1.8 billion announced for the USVI in April. Mr. Mapp said at the time that his administration would submit its plan to HUD for the $846 million in October. “HUD will have 45 days to act on that plan and approve it or send it back for some adjustments, and then we work on the third tranche of $774,188,000 which is for mitigation,” the former governor said in September. The f...