Tourists at the WICO Dock in St. Thomas. By. V.I. CONSORTIUM
The West Indian Company Limited, known as WICO, is paying between $12,000 to $15,000 a month as a result of water leakage from a damaged pipe that has cost the company $167,000 to date, WICO officials revealed during a board meeting Monday.
WICO, which ended the fiscal year with a net loss of $6.2 million compared to $8 million a year earlier, said it is in negotiations with the Government Employees' Retirement System, whose property the damaged pipe also runs through, to pay half the cost.
“We are in negotiations with GERS so that they can go ahead and pay half,” said WICO President and CEO Anthony Ottley during Monday's meeting.
For the past three months WICO has stopped paying the bill, he said, a decision taken to "stop that hemorrhaging." Mr. Ottley said the company has been in talks with WAPA to run a new line to the WICO property.
“We have expressed to WAPA the necessity to do this line and we anticipate to have a meeting with them this week to finalize,” he said.
Mr. Ottley further stated that water tanks were being considered for two of its buildings that currently lack functioning water systems as a result of the damaged pipe.
In terms of a timeframe for resolving the situation, Mr. Ottley stated that WAPA had not yet informed them of the length of time it would take to install the new water line on the property, but the authority said it was hoping to do so within a month.
