The V.I. Port Authority has agreed to pay Island Roads Corporation an additional $529,000 to complete the new Red Hook ferry dock. The Authority's director of engineer said, “the funds are necessary to close out the project,” the Virgin Islands Daily News reported.
The money will be used, the paper added, cover the purchase and installation of pad-mounted transformers. In English, that's so the place has electricity.
For months, the Authority's folks said the only thing holding up opening the new facility was the arrival of those transformers. Obviously they cannot arrive if they're not paid for.
The Inquiring Iguana wonders, didn't the $9.3 million original contract include transformers? Hmmm. But anyone who's ever tried to build something in the islands will tell you, a 5.6% cost overrun is chicken feed.