Waste Management to stop cleaning the streets 11/17

If you could see the amount of trash that lines the roadsides here on STT, you'd be embarrassed.

I haven't heard this for STT but no doubt VIWMA will do the same for all 3 islands.
They have to save their money for payroll and hire outside contractors for garbage pickups. We used to have more bins/dumpsters but now one has to give their garbage a scenic tour before getting to a dumpster. Ask why they haven't started a comprehensive recycling program when they have been offered, many times, outside help and expertise,
for FREE!

VIWMA = VI Waste Mismanagement Authority!

VIWMA = VI Waste Mismanagement Authority!

And if we introduce the pot bill they could become:

VIWMA = VI Wasted Mismanagement Authority!

We don't even have to wait for the bill!

Quite seriously, I agree with you. I don't see where my tax dollars go except to be misspent, mismanaged, misused, misappropriated, wasted or stolen. Certainly not providing services that other places ordinarily would.

That will all change after the election - Yea Right!

Waste Management is trying to stay within their limited budget and are cutting services. I think we should implement a small (3%?) sales tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products with proceeds exclusively for VIWMA. Smokers cause worldwide expense clean up so they need to pay.

Please bring up the topic with candidates every chance you can. It hasn't been on topic in forums I've attended, but this post reminded me. I now have 2 issues I want the candidates to address.

Duty Free Port! One of the reasons people come here.
Everyone pays quite enough taxes as it is.
The government needs to learn how to properly plan and adhere to a budget. Not that they know what the word means since it is not in their vocabulary.

bad enough when they land at the airport there is trash lining the roads, but now when they go to either downtown there will be trash lining the roads. unless they are going to have prisoners clean? any talk of that

I disagree...I can't believe that the GVI doesn't tax the crap out of cigs and booze. No wonder they don't seem interested in making pot legal...they probably wouldn't want to tax that either. They can still sell tax free to cruise ship passengers by giving those with the ship issued ID card the discount.

There is already trash lined streets in Fsted. There is the clean up happening at 7:30 this saturday.

Viwma manages contracts, not waste. They need to be disbanded and put back under public works. Since their inception, our roadsides have become increasingly trash lined while they continue to think of creative ways to charge more us for lacking basic services instead of creative ways to reduce costs, recycle and give us back a clean environment.

You do not see trash filled roadsides in Bermuda and many other islands. Their time is running out to close the dump or incur hefty fines from epa.

I noticed that the date they plan on stopping cleaning the downtown streets just happens to coincide with the beginning of our winter tourist season. Lovely!

The vi government and the tourism board should be ashamed of the unsightly mess we present to tourists and that we are forced to live with.

One of the things I love about visiting the states (and many other countries) is smooth, clean, well manicured streets and roadsides. Why shouldn't we have that here without paying even more thru the nose for it?

Tourism is ashamed, but they can't do much about it. One of the senatorial candidates sponsors clean ups, and is trying to encourage more people to do so.

Apart from the advertisement which apparently appeared in the Avis, has this information appeared anywhere else?

I see the Waste Management ad in today's Island Trader page 31.

Tourism is ashamed, but they can't do much about it. One of the senatorial candidates sponsors clean ups, and is trying to encourage more people to do so.

Who?

The amount if trash here is UNACCEPTABLE!! Why in the world don't locals have a sense of pride? I have seen people and KIDS riding in the back of trucks tossing out trash. I've given a couple a mouth full of words at stop signs.

I wonder if we started a petition and circulated it with signatures if we could get some attention.

Sadly I now realize this is a way of life for some people who live here and parents of locals doing this in front of their children perpetuating the problem. It's CRIMINAL.

I recently went down island to St kitts st marten Nevis Barbados and st lucia. Not ONE of those islands had the trash roadside that we do. I work with tourists every day and 90% comment on the trash. Why in the hell are VIers dead set in making this an island that tourist don't want to come to???? Don't people realize withou good tourism we are all SOL? No one will be left if we can't clean up this island - trash, customer service AND crime.

SICK

St Thomas senate candidate Bruce Flamon.

"locals" as well as natives, has such a negative connotation and it's far from only the people people who are born here. Plenty of replants (with zero commitment to their temp community) and especially the tourists, throw garbage all over the place.

I grew up here and there was never this total lack of pride and amount of garbage lining the roadsides. VIWMA has been in (out) of control of this situation for 8 yrs. and they are a worthless sack of you know what. I'm tired of looking at trash, garbage, junk, rusting and abandoned cars, every where you look. I'm tired of trying to see around a corner and any oncoming traffic due to overgrown BUSH!

It's Bush's fault?

So, is it helping or hurting the island mentality that we have big daddy government there to clean up after "us"?

in my experience, every time you give handouts, you F-over the people you are "helping"...

Of course, right on the eve of tourist season is not the best time to try and instill personal responsibility.

It's Bush's fault?

Why not blame it on him?
Certainly no one in our VI Gov. is going to stand up and say,
"it's my fault! The buck stops here!"
Ha!

LF - the islands were cleaner back in the "olden days" and people actually took responsibility for keeping their homes and properties nice.
You never saw the trash on roadsides. We actually pay with our taxes for the VI Gov.
to keep things clean which is obviously not a working or realistic concept for them.

From what I see, there seems to be quite a few people living in the bush and they don't have a way of disposing of their trash. I think many of them are day workers who hang out at Home Depot and East End Lumber Yard.

A student asked the gubernatorial candidates what they would do to address the trash issue, and none of the candidates had a good answer. It was really sad that they didn't consider it an issue.

Bruce Flamon STT senator candidate is a taxi driver in addition to the many other things he does, and is the only candidate who has experience with tourism. He always has creative ideas and has implemented many new services. He's the one who sponsors the First Fridays that are advertised on TV. He is doing what he can to get people to clean up the island.

He definitely is not a business as usual candidate.

LF - the islands were cleaner back in the "olden days" and people actually took responsibility for keeping their homes and properties nice.
You never saw the trash on roadsides. We actually pay with our taxes for the VI Gov.
to keep things clean which is obviously not a working or realistic concept for them.

yes, and how many people actually pay taxes again?

I think you have it right there in front of you "back in the olden days" when you DIDN'T have mommy and daddy to clean up after you.

You see I have a bit of expierence on this topic, via the Military (the ultimate "mommy and daddy"-take-care-of-you-for-life-club) and Alaska, the US's most recent "pay off the natives" scheme.

Both fail and produce people that are not self-reliant and thus not self-respecting (and that causes a lack of respect for everything else).

putting some "skin in the game" is the way to fix this, slap reality into the coddled masses, but; as I eluded to earlier; perhaps not right at the start of Tourist season.... haha.

I pay taxes and I do expect to have some basic services but our government takes our money and wastes those funds without providing those services. Viwma was offered free expert help many times but refuses to accept it. They spent $1M to a consulting firm to come up with a scheme to tax everything that is brought into the vi.
Outrage and public protest at the Psc hearings shot the idea down but they still spent a million dollars on consulting fees instead of cleaning up the island.

Our senators should pass a bill to change the vi flag symbol to an overflowing dumpster.