Federal Audit: Property and Procurement Squandered $9 million

Some more bad news from the Virgin Islands, courtesy of the St. Thomas Source:

June 7, 2007 -- The Department of Property and Procurement bungled $9 million in taxpayers' money from 2000 to 2005, according to a new federal audit.

As a landlord, the V.I. government's primary property-management agency failed to collect some $3 million rent -- letting renters go more than a decade without paying.

As a renter, the Virgin Islands has been less than shrewd, spending $3 million renting land it could have bought for $4.2 million, said the audit from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of the Inspector General.

"In effect, both as a landlord and a procurer of private space for government agencies, DP&P has not acted in the best interest of the government of the Virgin Islands," wrote the report's author, Michael P. Colombo, the Department of the Interior's regional audit manager.

Unfortunately the VI has a penchant for corruption and waste, especially with public money. The citizens of the territory need to get involved and demand more from the local government going forward to ensure this kind of stuff stops happening.