The price tag floated in at $350,000.00. It was not the mother of all BVI publicly funded parties, and it was for an exceptionally worthy cause.

The week-long celebration opened at the Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium and culminated with a gala ball at the East End/Long Look Community Centre.

Those who researched the history said that in 1776 (the same year the United States declared its Independence from Great Britain) Mary and Samuel Nottingham allowed slaves on their estate to purchase their freedom. The price of £5 per person was the going rate. 

(One wonders how a slave, unpaid for his/her labour, could have raised that staggering sum.)

The manumission of those slaves took place over half a century before the 1834 abolition of slavery. And, in addition, the Nottinghams, as has since become public knowledge, and noted by researcher Ron Potter during his presentation, gifted those people with a 50-acre estate.

That makes those free people in Long Look, amongst the first if not the first to have been liberated during the transatlantic slave trade. We wonder if that intelligence is universal but more to the point, if it is known throughout the Territory of the Virgin Islands.

It was certainly important enough to the Representative and people of District 7 to cause the Cabinet to declare a holiday, on the 30th of June, to commemorate this 250th anniversary of freedom.

Whose history is being taught in our schools? And how do the authorities ensure that the events and significant markers in time that should be added to the collective memory and consciousness, and that make BVI unique, are well known amongst its resident population?

Of course, any discussion on freedom that does not recognize Haiti’s role in its own national liberation, which would have been inspirational to people everywhere who were being deprived of their freedom, would be suspect. Although, an exorbitant price has been extracted from Haiti resulting in its spectacular decline ever since that feat.

Robert N. Bellah et al. in ‘The Good Society,’ noted that “Freedom must exist within and be guaranteed by institutions, and must include the right to participate in the economic and political decisions that affect our lives.” 

Do global citizens in democratic societies embrace this sentiment? We know that in the BVI, social media has allowed many in the community to express opinions incognito.

In some cases, those opinions have assassinated characters and have flirted with the boundaries of decency and fair play while others have breached those boundaries precisely because they are made anonymously. 

But Bellah et al. also noted that “Democracy is paying attention.” 

Are the people of the territory paying attention to what is going on in public life? Do they know that with the addition of the holiday for the ‘Commemoration of the 250 anniversary of freedom,’ that brings to 16, the number of public holidays in BVI for 2026?

And while holidays are necessary to allow the people to celebrate events of significance in their history, there still must be a balance.

For 2026, we will have an average of one and one third holidays per month; sixteen for the year. Who pays? 

We pay in the absence of children in schools that may make them less competitive than their global counterparts.

We lose in the closure of banks and public offices that deny their usual and expected services.

Businesses, especially small businesses, hurt in having to pay wages at the rate of double time and a half or a comp day for those who are required to work and a regular day’s pay for those who are not. 

And to do this 16 times in a year is crippling. But since the 250th anniversary of freedom is specific and should fall off the calendar next year, we will be down to an average of one and a quarter holidays per month in 2027 (15 holidays for that year) unless the imagination of the Cabinet runs unchecked.

For comparisons, the UK has 8 Bank holidays (The King’s birthday is not one); The US has 11 Federal holidays; Barbados has 12 Bank holidays and Jamaica, 11.

The Cabinet of the Virgin Islands is the highest decision-making body in the land while the House of Assembly is the highest law-making body.

Is it fair for the Cabinet to make decisions that so directly impact the business community without input from businesses?

For while it is true that we cannot have commercial interest determining what is important enough to the state that warrants special recognition, still, it is through dialogue that ideas and options emerge.

Author Nicky Gumbel notes that “There would be fewer problems in life if we just started talking to each other instead of about each other.” He frequently, in his writings, speaks of the value of open and honest communication.

We know of the complexity of government and we appreciate that if the government were required to consult the people on every decision to be made, the ‘country’ would stagnate.

But there is a place for dialogue and we believe that our leaders are wise enough to know when consultation with their employers (the people) is vital.

While we must be respectful of our government, to continue to fear the 13 has no foundation in logic nor reason.

And it is certainly diametrically opposed to our efforts at open dialogue on Fridays.

Happy Friday!