Rape of Great St. James Begins!!
No Pun Intended
A picture is worth a thousand words and St. Thomas photographer Don Hebert is spreading the word about the despoilment of Great St. James with his latest aerial pictures of the 165-acre island.
stjohnnewspapermon.com reported March 30, 2016, that rumor had it infamous billionaire bon vivant Jeffrey Epstein, the owner of the Little St. James pleasure island south of St. John – also known by local wags as “Little St. Jeff” –purchased the neighboring Great St. James.
“So damn sorry to hear that the owner of Little St James has now acquired the once beautiful island of Great St James,” Hebert wrote in posting his latest aerial photographs of the island between St. Thomas and St. John on stjohnnewspapermon.com
Epstein has constructed roads and numerous buildings on his “pleasure island” of Little St. James in recent years, including a gold-domed, mosque-like building on one of the island’s highest points.
“Few of you have flown over to see the ridiculous amount of construction (i.e. destruction) of LSJ, and now with owning GSJ for only about a month it is already full of roads and a heliport,” renowned V.I. photographer Hebert reported.
The reported $22,500,000 pur-chase price of Little St. James has been called the highest priced non-commercial real estate transaction in Virgin Islands history, but specifics of the sale of the island between St. Thomas and Epstein’s Little St. James Island have disappeared behind the real estate listing’s non-disclosure agreement to hide the identity of its purported purchaser, who has been referred to by Forbes business magazine as “the underage massage king of Palm Beach.”
Although there have been subsequent reports that Epstein had partners in the purchase, the development that has taken place already mirrors the work that has been done on Little St. James under Epstein's ownership.
“What lies ahead?? I didn't see a single silt fence and I fear for the effects of the runoff on the surrounding coral,” Hebert wrote. “Is he not held to the same DPNR rules as the rest of us, or does being rich and owning a private island allow him to do as he wishes to our environment?
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