Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett and Democratic nominee for governor of the Virgin Islands is taking a considerably more cautionary view of FEMA’s heightened scrutiny of the territory's disaster recovery program than Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., calling the federal review a “serious matter” and saying concerns raised by the federal government about the pace of the territory’s recovery are valid.
Ms. Plaskett issued the statement after receiving updates from Gov. Bryan and members of his administration as well as federal partners following last month’s meeting in Washington between senior Virgin Islands officials, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the White House Office of Management and Budget.
“The August 24th letter is a serious matter,” Ms. Plaskett said. “I have received updates from multiple sources, including the Governor and members of his team, along with federal partners.”
FEMA’s August 24 letter placed the territory’s disaster recovery portfolio under enhanced compliance review, examining the status and pace of projects, documentation, financial oversight, management costs, time-extension requests, contractor performance and other federal requirements.
As previously reported by V.I. Consortium, FEMA required senior territorial officials to attend a Washington meeting and demanded a project-by-project accounting of the territory’s FEMA-funded recovery portfolio. The agency also reserved the ability to take additional oversight or enforcement action if concerns identified during the review were not adequately addressed.
Gov. Bryan has offered a more positive assessment of the Washington meeting. He told the Consortium after the discussions that federal officials had not identified any individual project, agency or contractor as problematic, imposed no additional funding restrictions and had not slowed reimbursements or project approvals.
Mr. Bryan said the principal concern expressed by federal officials centered on the territory’s ability to move obligated federal dollars into construction and actual expenditures quickly enough to meet the government’s recovery schedule.
Ms. Plaskett agreed that speed has become a central issue, but said the federal concerns should not be minimized.
“I believe the federal government has raised valid concerns about the pace of recovery,” she said. “Federal recovery dollars must be spent efficiently, and the people of the Virgin Islands and American taxpayers deserve to see results.”
She pointed to the amount of unfinished infrastructure remaining nearly nine years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, including schools, hospitals, roads and utility projects.
“Nine years after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, too many of our schools, hospitals, roads, and utilities remain unfinished, and Virgin Islanders are still waiting to see the full results of this historic federal investment,” Ms. Plaskett said.
The congresswoman acknowledged concerns raised by the Bryan administration about federal processes that can slow projects, but said territorial officials cannot rely solely on shortcomings in the federal system to explain the pace of recovery.
“While it is important to share with the federal government where its systems could serve us better, we also cannot ignore that our local government must move faster to expend these funds, and spend them on projects built for efficiency and durability,” she said.
The Bryan administration has identified environmental reviews, workforce housing, shortages of skilled labor, contractor availability, construction capacity, debris disposal, inflation and market conditions among the obstacles affecting recovery projects. Government House has said approximately $12 billion in recovery work is moving through environmental-compliance processes.
Mr. Bryan said FEMA and OMB officials expressed a willingness during the Washington meeting to help the territory address some of those federal and logistical barriers, particularly environmental reviews and housing for the large temporary workforce expected to be needed as construction activity increases.
Ms. Plaskett nevertheless said the territory has moved into a phase where obtaining federal obligations is no longer enough.
“The Office of Disaster Recovery has done the difficult work of securing federal obligations,” she said. “The focus now must be on execution: moving money out the door, getting projects under construction, and delivering completed schools, hospitals, and infrastructure to the people of the Virgin Islands.”
Her statement also placed new attention on the territory’s Super Project Management Office, or Super PMO, which was established to provide project-management and construction oversight for the massive recovery portfolio. “We are spending tremendous dollars on a Super Project Management firm,” Ms. Plaskett said. “We must have the confidence that the firm will execute and deliver on what our tax dollars have paid for.”
She said that requires the firm to assign its strongest personnel to Virgin Islands projects while the local government improves its own internal processes. “Local government decision-making, permitting and processing vendor payments must be streamlined without forfeiting accuracy or compliance with federal mandates,” she said.
Ms. Plaskett also warned outside consultants against treating the territory’s recovery simply as another professional showcase. “Outside consultants must recognize that we are not a project for their own case studies or awards,” she said. “Our children, our elders, and our people need this infrastructure now.”
The remarks come as the territory enters what the Bryan administration describes as a transition from years of project formulation, federal obligation and procurement into large-scale construction.
Through Rebuild USVI, Government House says 12 contracts covering 39 projects are backed by approximately $13.7 billion in obligated federal funding. The portfolio includes schools, hospitals, power infrastructure, water and wastewater systems, roads and public facilities across St. Croix, St. Thomas and St. John.
Government House has projected a sharp increase in simultaneous construction activity over the next several years, with dozens of major projects expected to move forward as federal obligations become construction contracts.
FEMA’s enhanced review, however, requires the territory to demonstrate that those obligations are translating into measurable progress while maintaining documentation, financial controls and compliance with federal requirements.
The agency’s August letter also connected its scrutiny to HUD’s suspension of the Virgin Islands Housing Finance Authority, warning that issues involving financial controls, procurement, project delays, duplication of benefits and contractor oversight could extend into FEMA-funded work.
Mr. Bryan has maintained that the Washington meeting did not result in new restrictions and has characterized discussions with FEMA and OMB as productive. At a subsequent Government House briefing, he said federal officials were prepared to help address some of the obstacles impeding construction and described the meeting as “tremendous.”
