Virgin Islanders are a very independent people, and history shows a pattern: a flourish of growth and development tends to follow when the people are given more autonomy, said attorney Gerard Farara, QC, in a lecture Tuesday evening at the H. Lavity Stoutt Comminuty College.

“It’s a phenomenon we should be proud of,” Mr. Farara said. “It’s demonstrative of the psyche of the Virgin Islander.”

Mr. Farara, who chaired the Constitutional Review Commission of 2004, gave the 24th annual Frederick Pickering Memorial Lecture, which this year covered the history of the Virgin Islands Constitution and the issue of good governance.

Mr. Farara and members of the foundation said the topic is important and timely because officials in the United Kingdom are now working on a new white paper that will spell out the UK’s relationship with her territories in the coming years.

Although the official deadline was Dec. 31, 2011, because the Virgin Islands was at the height of election season, UK officials have allowed VI officials and residents until the end of this month to give their input on what that relationship should look like.

 

See the Jan. 19, 2012 edition for full coverage.