The Caribbean tourism economy continues to struggle, with the World Travel and Tourism Council estimating recently that the best-case scenario will see it take a hit of $27 billion and shed 1.2 million jobs because of the pandemic. As a result, both the public and...
January 26, 2021
January 26, 2021
VI court freezes assets in $6b case
A Virgin Islands court has frozen shares in two hotels belonging to Pakistan’s national airline in one of the highest-dollar cases ever mediated through the territory’s courts. The order may soon put to the test a new VI law designed to facilitate the recovery of...
January 25, 2021
National library, museum promised this year
Public libraries have been mostly closed in the territory since Hurricane Irma hit the Virgin Islands in 2017, but they were struggling even before then. That will change this year, Deputy Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley said last week during a community meeting where he...
January 22, 2021
New licensing, investment bills considered
Businesspeople may have to navigate new regulations for getting licensed and making investments if the House of Assembly passes new bills it is currently considering. During a sitting this month, the HOA saw two economic bills come to the floor for first readings: the Virgin...
January 22, 2021
New police commish set to arrive in April
Mark Collins, a former United Kingdom police chief who has served for more than 33 years, will take up the post of Virgin Islands police commissioner for three years starting in April, according to a Monday press release from the Governor’s Group. Mr. Collins is...
January 22, 2021
In pandemic, technology called central to court’s future
Speaking at a special virtual sitting to mark the commencement of the 2021 law year, Dame Janice Pereira, chief justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, said the Covid-19 pandemic has hampered some of the court’s activities, including grounding jury trials in several member jurisdictions...
January 21, 2021
Governor announces corruption inquiry
Pointing to longstanding concerns about poor governance in the territory, outgoing Governor Gus Jaspert on Monday announced a wide-ranging commission of inquiry that will probe allegations of potential corruption, political intimidation and abuse of public funds, among other issues. In explaining the reasons for the...
January 21, 2021
Government ministers hit the road
Virgin Islands culture and art were central during a week of community meetings hosted by government ministers throughout the territory, but leaders also addressed issues including the development of Road Town’s downtown area and the pandemic’s affect on everything from road work to the planned...
January 21, 2021
Captain faces court over Virgin Gorda swimmer’s death
In the space of two weeks at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020, two tourists were killed by boats in unrelated incidents while swimming in the waters of the Virgin Islands. This week a captain was charged in connection with the first death,...
January 21, 2021
13 Virgin Islands students graduate from UWI Open Campus
Thirteen students from the Virgin Islands graduated from the University of the West Indies last week through its Open Campus programme in the territory. Eight received a bachelor’s degree, one received a master’s degree, and five received a bachelor of laws. The UWI has nearly...
January 21, 2021
At Saturday’s Painkiller Cup, ‘A great bunch of people’
A blast from an air horn rang out, and the 29 people lined up on the beach at Sandy Cay grabbed their paddleboards, rushed into the water, and commenced their race to White Bay, Jost Van Dyke. Saturday’s 2021 Painkiller Cup had just started, and...
