Gov. John deJongh Jr. has sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer extolling the environmental virtues of the government’s deals with two rum producers, opening a new front in the dispute with Puerto Rico over rum cover-over funds.
DeJongh sent the letter Monday to the California Democrat. Boxer is chair of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works and is, the governor noted, “the Senate’s foremost advocate for protecting our planet’s health.”
Over the past year, the governor and Delegate Donna Christensen have defended the agreements between the territory’s government and the two rum producers for their economic benefits to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
According to deJongh’s letter, “Rum production in the U.S. territories and the Caribbean countries is based on an outdated 1900s model that uses large quantities of water and produces waste that, if improperly treated, poses a threat to the surrounding environment.”
He then points to the groundbreaking earlier this month of the new wastewater treatment facility at the Cruzan distillery, and Diageo Corp.’s construction of the Captain Morgan’s distillery, which the governor calls the industry’s most environmentally friendly rum distillery.”
Those projects were financed through a 30-year agreement with the V.I. government, using rum cover-over funds to back the construction bonds.
“Without our investment in those companies, the Caribbean rum industry would have little incentive to improve its environmental record,” the governor wrote to Boxer.
“It is refreshing to have both Diageo’s and Fortune Brand’s (the corporate owner of Cruzan Rum) dedication to protect the U.S.V.I.’s natural beauty and precious resources by investing in the most sustainable technology, construction and manufacturing processes available.”
The governor then noted the efforts by Puerto Rico officials and others to undermine the agreements by restricting the use of cover-over money. If those efforts are successful, his letter warns, they will endanger efforts to stabilize the local economy and promote the future of the rum industry in U.S. territories.
Puerto Rico has complained that the agreements between the U.S. Virgin Islands and the two spirits companies gives an inappropriate benefit to the businesses and unfairly lured Diageo from Puerto Rico. DeJongh points out in his letter that Diageo had already decided to end its arrangement with a Puerto Rican company that provides Captain Morgan’s Rum, and was looking for a place to build its own distillery. It had looked at several foreign countries before entering into negotiations with the U.S. Virgin Islands. The agreement that brought Diageo to St. Croix saved those jobs for American workers, he said.
“I urge you to support the U.S.V.I.’s innovative plan to use a federal program to ensure the sustainability of our rum industry and protect our natural beauty,” said deJongh.
