ST. CROIX — The owner of Marco St. Croix said he does not intend to remove his bins filled with garbage or his excavator that remain at the closed Mon Bijou bin site despite requests to do so from the Virgin Islands Waste Management Authority because he is owed money and there are ongoing legal proceedings.
“We’re actually going through a case right now in court,” Shawn Baptiste, owner of the trash removal and water delivery company, said.
Baptiste discussed the situation after WTJX published an article Thursday detailing the Waste Management Authority’s plans for the bin site.
READ MORE: “Convenience center for Mon Bijou bin site slated for 2025; WMA provides updates on STT/STJ sites”
Baptiste said he needs to get paid.
“They sent me an email stating to move my stuff,” he said. “How can I move my stuff when you’re trying to get a different vendor at the site and then owing me so much money?”
Daryl Griffith, WMA interim executive director and chief financial officer, said the Authority owes Baptiste for work completed following the hurricanes of 2017. He said, however, WMA has made monthly payments.
“He’s been paid over $35 million from the Authority, and he’s owed about $8 million now,” Griffith said. “As long as he provides the correct invoices, the Authority will continue making payments towards him, and we’ll seek to get help from the Legislature to make it whole.”
While Baptiste and WMA go through the legal process and work out the pending payments, Marco St. Croix has bins filled with garbage that have remained at the Mon Bijou bin site since its closure on July 15.
WMA closed the bin site due to safety concerns it initially intended to immediately address before deciding to instead prioritize its long-term project to convert the site into a convenience center.
Baptiste disagreed that WMA closed the site to convert it into a convenience center. He claims the closure was motivated by personal agendas. He said he told WMA officials repairs were needed at the bin site, adding that he requested to take the job.
“At the end of the day, it’s just a matter of being spiteful,” he said. “That’s why the site is closed.”
Griffith said WMA closed the bin site due to safety concerns.
“The reason Mon Bijou was closed down was because the site was eroding,” he said, adding there were major drops that created safety issues.
WMA closed the site for repairs, Griffith said. He said, however, the plan is no longer to simply make repairs now that the Authority has received approval to use Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery funds for the conversion of the site into a convenience center.
“It doesn’t make sense to do work on that site on two separate occasions,” he said.
In addition to trash bins, Baptiste also has an excavator on location at the Mon Bijou bin site. He said it will remain parked until the legal proceedings get resolved.
The excavator that Marco St. Croix has at the Mon Bijou bin site is not the first time the company has had a disagreement with the Waste Management Authority concerning the removal of heavy equipment from the Authority’s property.
WMA filed a lawsuit against Marco St. Croix and Baptiste in Superior Court on January 28, 2023 alleging the company’s failure to remove heavy equipment from the Anguilla Landfill resulted in loss and damages to the Authority and created additional manpower hours for the constant monitoring of Marco’s bins at the landfill. A court order dated June 1, 2023 called for Marco St. Croix to remove multiple items from the landfill, including bins, flatbed trailers, and an excavator. A subsequent court order filed on July 26 gave Marco 30 days to remove the items.
“The court ruled that he had to remove his stuff from that landfill, so that occurred, so we’re confident that in doing the right thing, the same situation will occur again,” Griffith said.
The lawsuit, however, remains pending as it involves a counterclaim by Marco St. Croix against WMA for breach of contract and refusal to make payments owed, as well as a third-party claim by Marco St. Croix against A-9 Trucking Enterprises Inc. and the company’s owner, Jimez Ashby.
Baptiste alleged Ashby filed a false and defamatory police complaint against him that accused him of assaulting Ashby with a weapon and threatening to kill him at the Anguilla Landfill on September 28, 2022. Baptiste further alleged that Ashby conspired with WMA management and employees to interfere with a contract and/or prospective contractual relation between him and WMA by filing a false police report.
Ashby, responding in a counterclaim against Baptiste, alleged Baptiste embarked on a smear campaign on the radio and by talking to WMA employees that was designed to spread rumors about him to prevent A-9 Trucking from being awarded WMA contracts that Baptiste planned to bid on.
As the case proceeds, Judge Douglas Brady has scheduled a virtual status conference at 9 a.m. January 9, 2025.
