The COI has been the Territory’s Achilles heel ever since a departing governor reluctantly granted the wish of a former Premier who called for it day and night when he was Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.  His rationale was that the NDP Party that formed the government of the day was the most corrupt in the history of BVI politics.But words are spirit and life.  Long after they are spoken, they still retain their capacity to haunt and to hurt.The children of the si...

“Bit by bit our freedom is being taken away, under our gaze but beneath our notice while we run around to the UN, CARICOM and to whomever has two ears to make the BVIs case for independence.The only place we seem uninterested in making that case is in BVI.  We have not studied the costs, obligations and responsibilities of independence.  We want the people to make the decision in anger and in ignorance perhaps without even the benefit of a referendum.Surely the people do not want...

“The Tourism Minister came alone.   Perhaps his PS and the Director of the Tourist Board were unaware that when their Minister speaks in a public forum, they should be there to hear the policy direction that he is taking. It may be that they do not know, in practice, what it means to be a part of ‘the world-class public service’ that has become the mantra of the Deputy Governor. The tourism minister gave the keynote address at the BVI Yachting, Hotel an...

16 June happens to be a public holiday across the Virgin Islands. It’s a day to celebrate the King’s birthday across the UK and it’s Territories.  In the BVI, we’re celebrating the long holiday weekend with the Etana concert hosted by KT Productions. The concert will kick off a long summer of major events across the Territory. The Etana concert is set for Friday 16 June at the Cyril B Romney Pier Park. Etana is a Jamaican born celebrated reggae artist and best k...

I have now had the opportunity to review the Immigration and Passport (Amendment Act, No. 5 of 2019, and Immigration and Passport (Amendment (No. 2) Act of 2019 (thanks again to the source). NB: These Amendment Acts are no longer in force. They contained sunset clauses and ceased to apply on 1st February 2020 once the fast-track process concluded. The pertinent section of the Immigration and Passport Act (the principal Act is section 16). Section 16 (2) provides three ways for a person to qualif...

Under a “fast-track” programme launched in July 2019, the BVI Government processed 1,321 new applications for belongership and 320 backlogged applications. Of those applications, 1,273 persons were approved. The public has recently been informed that of the 1,273, 688 of these approvals were invalid, as they did not meet at least one criterion of the application criteria. Many of these 688 persons have been registered to vote and if not fixed, may taint the upcoming elections and open the el...