After the House of Assembly passed the last of five bills to reform statutory bodies last Thursday, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley boasted this week that his government has completed …
October 3, 2024
September 26, 2024
Statutory board reforms continue
Over the past week, legislators passed four out of five bills designed to improve the governance of statutory bodies as the House of Assembly addressed its final reform recommendation from …
September 19, 2024
Financial services reforms continue
The House of Assembly suspended its usual rules on Monday to introduce and pass two financial services bills designed to avoid international sanction by bringing the territory in line with …
September 19, 2024
House tackling last COI reform
The House of Assembly began tackling its final Commission of Inquiry reform this week as legislators debated the first of five bills designed to improve the governance of five statutory …
September 9, 2024
First-half tourism record driven by cruise ships
The first six months of 2024 set a tourism record, bringing the most visitor arrivals of any first half in Virgin Islands history and causing Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley …
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September 4, 2024
12 bills laid days before COI deadline
Two days before the missed Saturday deadline for completing the sweeping reforms recommended by the Commission of Inquiry, the House of Assembly suspended its usual rules to introduce 12 bills. …
September 4, 2024
HOA votes to reform public service
After returning from a closed-door committee session last Thursday, the House of Assembly passed a bill designed to bring sweeping changes to the public service as part of the ongoing …
August 29, 2024
Civil service reform debated in House
Just ahead of the Saturday deadline for completing the Commission of Inquiry reforms, the House of Assembly has been debating a bill that would bring sweeping reforms to the …
August 23, 2024
A $13 million mistake
In the 2024 Budget Address last November, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley announced a Cabinet decision to include about $10 million in this year’s budget to ensure that all public …
August 15, 2024
A ‘cultural vibe’ in Carrot Bay
Though Phillip Mostert has lived in the Virgin Islands for nine years, Friday was his first time attending the Carrot Bay Cultural Fiesta. But the South African did not come …
August 15, 2024
HOA okays vetting law enforcers
Certain prison, customs and immigration officers could soon be subject to new vetting requirements under a bill the House of Assembly passed recently in accordance with a Commission of Inquiry …
August 14, 2024
With gusts up to 85 mph, Ernesto batters Virgin Islands
Shortly before growing into a Category One hurricane early this afternoon, Tropical Storm Ernesto battered the Virgin Islands with more than 12 hours of high winds and heavy rain as …
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August 2, 2024
HOA votes to amend 2021 integrity act
The House of Assembly voted Friday to amend a 2021 integrity law that never took effect and strengthen an Integrity Commission that was never established. The Integrity in Public Life …
August 2, 2024
HOA limits Cabinet’s power over contracts
Despite dissent from five opposition members, the House of Assembly narrowly voted on Tuesday to dramatically limit Cabinet’s discretion over contract awards in keeping with recommendations from the 2022 Commission …
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August 2, 2024
At trial, premier says Najan Christopher was ‘misguided’ but ‘trying her best’
When Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley took the stand last week in Najan Christopher’s criminal trial, her attorney asked him about the letter that landed Ms. Christopher before the court. …
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July 22, 2024
Old records shed new light on VI history
Soon after Dr. Angel Smith was appointed to oversee the government’s archives last year, he was assessing old records when he found a series of documents that shed new light …
July 22, 2024
Oldest archives not open to public
Two-century-old land records displayed during a recent archives exhibition were found “purely by accident,” according to Archives and Records Management Unit Director Dr. Angel Smith. Dr. Smith discovered the documents …
July 18, 2024
Guv’s inquiry bill sparks cries of ‘dictatorship’
On Tuesday in the House of Assembly, two legislators used the word “dictatorship” to decry a bill that Governor Daniel Pruce is proposing to modernise the Commission of Inquiry Act …
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July 12, 2024
HOA shoring up assistance programme
The House of Assembly passed a bill Tuesday that aims to further reform the Assistance Grants Programme, which has been dramatically revamped over the past two years in keeping with …
July 5, 2024
305 graduate high schools across VI
After each Elmore Stoutt High School graduate walked across the stage to receive a diploma last Thursday at the Multi-purpose Sports Complex, valedictorian J’Quela Callwood took the microphone. “We adapted …
July 4, 2024
Beryl batters the Caribbean, setting record
Hurricane Beryl swept across the Caribbean this week as an unusually early Category Five storm, laying waste to several islands, causing at least nine reported deaths, and lending credence to …
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July 1, 2024
Former legislator remembered
Family, friends and colleagues remembered former police commissioner and legislator Vernon Malone during an official funeral on Saturday morning at the Multi-purpose Sports Complex. Mr. Malone, who died on May …
June 27, 2024
19 graduate in Virgin Gorda
Of the 19 students who graduated from Bregado Flax Educational Centre Secondary Division on Tuesday, four were among the top ten public high school students in the Virgin Islands. Valedictorian …
June 20, 2024
186 graduate from HLSCC
The 2024 graduates of H. Lavity Stoutt Community College know a thing or two about adversity. Many of them weathered Hurricane Irma around the time they started high school, and …
June 20, 2024
Crown land legislation passes with amendments
After six days in closed-door committee, the House of Assembly passed a law on Monday that aims to provide a transparent framework for the acquisition, management and disposal of crown …
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