USVI horse racing tracks: Progress on St Thomas, frustration on St Croix
FREDERIKSTED, St Croix, USVI- In a Senate Committee that seemed to underscore a tale of two islands, progress and promise shone for the horse-racing industry on St Thomas, while bureaucratic delays and frustrations continued to mar the efforts on St Croix.
2023-08-29 15:08:34 - VI News Staff
In the first part of the meeting on Friday, August 25, 2023, the Senate Committee on Culture, Youth, Aging, Sports and Parks focused entirely on the horse-racing industry and such that it exists currently in the territory. Representatives from Southland Gaming and VIGL were on hand to provide updates on their respective projects on St Thomas and St Croix, as were relevant government officials and civil society stakeholders.
'We fed up of them'
Jason Williams, VIGL’s general manager, reminded lawmakers that the Coastal Zone Management Committee’s approval had been granted for the St. Croix project in July, which has resulted in the submission of application for building permits on VIGL’s part. “These filings bring us another step closer to breaking ground, which will occur once we receive the necessary permits,” said Mr. Williams.
Despite Mr. Williams’s pride over the permits, Elroy Bates Jr, president of the Flamboyant Park Horsemen Association, was upset over the permitting process. “They’re constantly playing around, we fed up with them,” he said, noting that the company had reportedly submitted the permit applications without the requisite fees, thus they went nowhere at the Department of Planning and Natural Resources for nine calendar days. “We hope they get their act together,” said Mr. Bates, noting that the Flamboyant Park Horsemen were just waiting for the racetrack to officially open.
When that would be, Mr. Williams couldn’t say. Responding to a direct question about groundbreaking from committee chair Angel Bolques Jr, the VIGL representative noted that at this point, it’s out of the entity’s hands. “I don’t know when DPNR will review and approve the civil and political package that we submitted.