‘Government wasting millions on rent’ — Lettsome
Territorial At-Large candidate Levor Lettsome has accused the government of wasting millions of dollars on rented offices while the Ralph T O’Neal Administration Complex remains out of full use.
Lettsome, chairman of the Virgin Islands Innovative Association, said the continued rental expenditure showed that the government was not managing public funds wisely.
“The country is in a mess. Twenty-eight million dollars in commercial rent. We should not be paying that,” Lettsome stated during an appearance on the Talking Points radio programme.
Lettsome said the government rents numerous private properties, some of which carry substantial monthly costs. He referred to information that he said was disclosed in the House of Assembly in February.
“The gentleman said it in the House of Assembly back up in February. We have a lot of rentals. The government has a lot,” Lettsome stated. “They’re paying a bunch of money in rent. And these rental offices that these people paying is not like $2,000 or whatever. These people paying $16,000 and all kinds of thousands in rent every month.”
Lettsome argued that the government should have found better temporary arrangements to accommodate public officers while completing repairs to the Administration Complex. He suggested using properly outfitted containers at the compound as one possible short-term measure.
“They could have found alternative ways to make sure that they aesthetically set up, even if they had to buy containers, whatever, and make the place look nice down there,” Lettsome stated.
The complex sustained extensive damage during Hurricane Irma in September 2017, forcing several ministries and departments into rented accommodation across Tortola. The government previously announced that it expected its annual rental expenses to fall by approximately $2 million once the complex reopened.
Lettsome linked the rental costs to the government’s wider borrowing and spending decisions, arguing that money spent since 2017 could have supported other public needs.
“We shouldn’t have had to be going to be getting no $100 million from no bank when we have $20-something million, $28 million from 2017 when Irma them passed,” Lettsome stated. “You look at all of that money that has gone down the drain. It is wrong.”
“We have to use the people’s money wisely, not keep using the people’s money and taking it, taking the people’s money and using it for things that are more liabilities than bringing assets to the nation,” Lettsome stated.
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the media needs to take a tour of the central admin complex, it will take a long time to fix that building, to rewire, redo the plumbing, the a,c and to get rid of the mold
All of this is a set-up, complete incompetence and manipulative self-interests by politicians and other leaders of Government institutions and some people in the community. Please stop the madness.
Would make a difference if they were actually working on it
The government don’t have any intention in owning its own facilities and stop paying so much money in rent… how they gonna get the money to friends and family and party supporters… some of them who in power now was talking like this at first then they got in and do everything exactly the same as the people they criticized before
This is the same man that will say Government has caused local landlords to lose their properties the banks for lack of support. People will say anything and use any angle just to get into the House of Assembly and it’s really pathetic. Honestly, the more persons that come out claiming to be contesting the elections, the more I realize that as bad as the VIP are, they are still better than those announcing. Let’s see how this plays out over the next few months.
They rather rent because the owner of those buildings are their friends and families, remember where Ronnie was? That admin building would be finished already if they tried to fix
@Resident its being nine years they could have repaired the building and build a next one stop talking BS.
This same f**l begging those same landlords for a vote
Not wasted.
The money is beingntransfeŕed just as they want from the people and into their wealthy pockets.
No value for VI, money gone, project a success!!!!!!!!! The rich and powerful have our money off our backs. The New Colonials.
This policy is the cronyism at its worst. The prime way of laundering and favoritism. A friend is basically given land at a reduced value. The friend goes to the bank with a lucrative 10 year contract for govt tenancy. Guaranteed. One or two floors are not rented by the govt but allow the owner to rent to others at another prime rate.
$$$$$ is all going to family and friends = votes
SIR THIS IN NOT WASTING WHAT WE ARE EXPERIENCING IS JUST SNITHER VERSION NOF THE ” RODEO GAME” MADE FAMOUS BY BIG DADDY ANDY , JUST LIKE – LUXURY TRAVELING – SELF RAISING SALARIES- DRUGS – GUNS – HUMAN TRAFFICKING FROM “SANTO”, AND NOT FORGETTING THE INTRODUCTION OF THE CARTELS ETC -¿- .
The govt is doing what it has always done: looking after its own. There are plenty of examples where govt officials happily rented properties they own back to the govt while govt rook its time fixing up its own buildings. In some instances, they had govt first pay for repairs to their buildings so govt could occupy them.
We want full disclosure. Who owns the properties?