FEMA administrator met with Virgin Islands officials on Dec. 6 to discuss recovery projects

Federal Emergency Management Agency Acting Administrator Peter Gaynor met with Gov. Albert Bryan Jr., Office of Disaster Recovery Director Adrienne L. Williams-Octalien and Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency Director Daryl Jaschen on Dec. 6 to discuss major recovery projects involving health care, roads, power, housing and schools in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The meeting followed an October meeting in Washington between Bryan and Gaynor. Bryan, who joined the Dec. 6 meeting by teleconference, said the pace of work to restore hospitals, schools and roads had been slow and cited turnover among local FEMA staff and repeated reviews of previously vetted projects.

Bryan also said key decisions related to the STEP program needed to be finalized so funding could be released to pay contractors.

After the meeting at Government House, Gaynor toured Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital with Williams-Octalien, FEMA U.S. Virgin Islands Recovery Director Jacquelyn Heyliger, acting hospital CEO Dyma Williams and project manager Yvonne Williams.

Government House said FEMA had obligated $10 million for design and architectural engineering for the replacement of Juan F. Luis Hospital. It said hospital leadership was finalizing contracts for furniture and medical equipment for the temporary modular hospital, which was expected to open in the summer of 2020.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/fema-pledges-to-expedite-territorys-recovery-through-closer-collaboration-with-virgin-islands-government/