As 2025 draws to a close, we are encouraged by significant progress over the past year but frustrated by shortcomings that are no longer excusable.
The past 12 months offered clear reminders that the Virgin Islands is capable of thoughtful debate, reform and resilience even though transparency, planning and execution remain stubborn weaknesses.
The task for 2026, then, is easy to state but hard to achieve: build on the successes while confronting the failures head-on.
On the positive side, 2025 showed encouraging signs of democratic engagement.
Progress toward a new constitution — and the vigorous community discussions surrounding it — demonstrated strong public interest and a healthy appetite for civic participation. Such conversations are not always easy, but they are necessary, and the debate highlighted the territory’s strong democratic foundations.
Another 2025 milestone was the completion of most of the Commission of Inquiry recommendations, which included wide-ranging reforms that have been urgently needed for decades in many cases.
Also welcome was the recent transfer of public funds to the independent Climate Change Trust Fund after 10 years of unacceptable delays. Climate resilience, after all, is urgent for the VI.
Similarly, the long-delayed solar plant on Anegada, which finally launched this month, marked tangible progress toward renewable energy, even if the project’s troubled history of cost overruns, procurement flaws and delays should not be forgotten.
The year also brought constructive discussions toward a long-promised tourism plan. Though the government has so far failed to produce a draft of that plan, public dialogue about the sector’s future is preferable to silence, and officials have pledged delivery in 2026. They must keep this promise and use the plan to guide future decisions.
Despite ongoing challenges in schools, VI students were another bright spot of 2025. They continued to shine as they competed in robot-building contests, chess tournaments and other activities that highlighted their dedication and promise.
Cultural life, too, was strengthened by important celebrations, including activities last month marking the 75th anniversary of the restoration of the legislature.
Despite these successes, 2025 also made abundantly clear that serious problems persist.
Transparency, for instance, remains sorely lacking. The most important elements of the House of Assembly’s constitutional debate occurred behind closed doors, enabled by a colonial-era system that still allows lawmakers to make decisions in secret. This is incompatible with modern democratic expectations, and urgent reform is needed.
Meanwhile, the public-sector recovery from Hurricane Irma continues to lag unacceptably far behind. While some progress was made under a $100 million loan secured last year, this fiscal infusion was insufficient and has been slow to translate into visible results.
To understand why this matters so much, one need only consider the shoddy state of the roads, the non-operational trash incinerator in Pockwood Pond, frequent power outages and sewerage delays, among other infrastructure issues.
Nearly a decade on from Irma, residents deserve far better.
Troubling opacity has also surrounded the planned airport expansion, though the government is promising to release parts of a business case soon.
Crime remained a serious concern this year as well, compounded by the governor’s clumsy handling of police leadership at a time when major reforms are urgently needed across all the territory’s law-enforcement bodies.
The territory’s grey-listing by the Financial Action Task Force was another blow to its reputation, even though the move was rightly followed by swift corrective action from government and industry.
The lessons of 2025, then, are clear: Progress is possible, but it is hard-won and fragile.
In 2026, leaders must buckle down with the help of the entire community. This means matching dialogue with delivery, reform with openness, and ambition with accountability.
We wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year.