The past 12 months have not been easy for the Virgin Islands, but 2024 nevertheless brought glimpses of the light at the end of a tunnel the territory entered when it was devastated by Hurricane Irma in 2017.
As the VI has struggled to recover from that storm over the past seven years, it has been battered by other existential challenges: the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic fallout; the 2022 arrest of then-premier Andrew Fahie; the Commission of Inquiry; a flagging financial services industry; and the escalating climate crisis, among others.
And all this is to say nothing of the outside world’s political and economic turmoil.
However, this adversity has also brought opportunities. Indeed, some positive signs this year suggest that it is not too late for the VI to emerge stronger from seven years of struggles.
As one example, consider the hurricane recovery. Though many major public projects have stalled as successive governments have failed to access the needed funding, the current administration finally secured a $100 million loan this year to jumpstart the efforts. This money won’t be nearly enough, but at least it will be a beginning.
In 2025, leaders must make the loan count by spending wisely on projects administered properly by the Recovery and Development Agency.
Then there’s the pandemic, which left the tourism sector reeling. In an apparent panic to respond, the government has moved ahead with a dramatic expansion of the cruise ship sector even as the more lucrative overnight sector has lagged behind.
But in the coming months, overnight arrivals are expected to increase with the opening of new properties including the Peter Island Resort.
In 2025, leaders must change their knee-jerk approach to the sector by keeping their promise to create a national tourism plan with input from the community.
The territory is at a similarly critical juncture with the COI reforms. The VI and the United Kingdom alike have put in place long-needed measures recommended by the 2022 COI report, including an overhaul of public assistance programmes, improved integrity rules, restrictions on the use of crown land, and better procurement procedures, among many others.
In 2025, they must work together to ensure that these reforms are properly implemented and take root as promised.
But they also must go further.
Coming out of the COI, for instance, was a June report on the territory’s law enforcement and justice administration agencies, which exposed widespread failings that in some cases are life-threatening. However distressing this news, unveiling the scope of these issues was a much-needed starting point for change.
In 2025, leaders must recognise that good governance is not a box-checking exercise and that ongoing reform must become ingrained in the VI’s leadership culture.
Similar lessons have emerged in the financial services industry, whose incorporations sector is in a long-term structural decline that was exacerbated by a blistering February report from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force. But here, too, lies opportunity.
In 2025, the VI must continue tackling the CFATF’s many recommendations with a view to bolstering the financial sector so that it can be better diversified and expanded in the coming years.
Other lessons of this year point the way forward for further actions the government must take in 2025:
• increasing the minimum wage as planned;
• committing to full transparency in its handling of the proposed airport expansion and other capital projects;
• activating and funding the Climate Change Trust Fund;
• passing long-needed environmental legislation;
• funding and implementing a comprehensive waste-management system;
• repairing dilapidated schools; and
• continuing working to move government processes online, to name just a few.
In short, there was much to be thankful for in 2024 and there is lots to look forward to in 2025.
We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a joyous New Year.
