“As the environment goes, so goes the Virgin Islands,” independent at-large candidate Bertrand “Washasha X” Lettsome said last Thursday night at a Road Town debate and rally focusing on sustainable development.
The debate, organised by the Virgin Islands Environmental Council, brought a handful of candidates to the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park to discuss an issue that played a key role in the 2007 elections: development at Beef Island and beyond.
The VIEC is perhaps best known for its opposition to Quorum Island BVI Ltd.’s proposal to build a 659-acre luxury resort and golf course on Beef Island.
The proposal has been in the works since 1995, when the company completed a deal to purchase the Beef Island land under the Virgin Islands Party-led government of Chief Minister H. Lavity Stoutt. But it wasn’t until 2005 that a preliminary development agreement was signed by then-Chief Minister Dr. Orlando Smith’s National Democratic Party-led government.
The 2005 agreement sparked heated controversy, which soon turned political and came to a head during the 2007 election campaigns.
The NDP maintained that the Beef Island resort and other developments planned under its watch would bring tax dollars, create high-paying jobs for Virgin Islanders, and attract high-end tourists — all while keeping environmental impact to a minimum. The VIP sided in large part with opponents, who argued that the projects would come at too high a cost to the environment, and would endanger critical ecosystems.
Ultimately, leaders from both the NDP and the VIP agreed that developments, or the public’s perception of them, played a key role in the VIP’s landslide victory that year.
At last Thursday’s debate, candidates commended the VIEC’s work and called for more effective environmental regulations. They also lamented that the environment hasn’t gotten more discussion in this year’s campaigns.
See the Oct. 27, 2011 edition for full coverage.