Main Street shows progress

ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands (CBS USVI) — Business owners on Main Street in St. Thomas report construction is speeding up and they said it’s thanks to people in the community and the media speaking up.

In September, CBS USVI NEWS stopped by Main Street when viewers reached out to us asking for answers as to why the enhancement project was taking so long and hurting local businesses.

But since then, they told USVI Correspondent Kellie Meyer things have improved. They said they’ve seen more pavement laid, more construction work being done, more workers coming out at night. They added that overall they’re happy with the progress. They said they would like to see it be sped up but in these months where it is a bit quieter like September and October before the tourists come back in it’s a good time to get the work done.

“I think since the last time you were down town one of the concerns that I personally had was the transparency and communication and that is definitely improved,” Giresh Mirpuri, Owner, Ballerina Jewelers said.

“Progress looks pretty good. They’ve been working day and night. We do see crews here throughout the day we see the crews coming in at night, so it’s moving,” Amit Khemani, Owner, Beverley’s said.

As far as business goes, they said that it hasn’t really gone up but that could be in part due to the construction here and also because of those slower months that we’re experiencing in September and October with less cruise ships coming in. Business owners hope that increases as we head into the November month.