Instead of launching expedited “executive work permits” for high earners, the Labour Department should concentrate on reforming its systems from the ground up in order to process all work permits …
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK (Aug. 16, 2018)
A dog’s life Though the issue has been aired often on social media, in international and local news articles, and in public chatter, it still surprises and disgusts a Beaconite …
COMMENTARY — Stats seen as essential for recovery
Accurate statistics and sound economic metrics are critical to engineering economic recovery for the Virgin Islands. A July article in a national online newspaper stated that the territory’s public debt …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Stats seen as essential for recovery”
COMMENTARY — Ideas offered to find Festival’s ‘roots’
Every year leading up to and after our August Emancipation Festival, there is plenty of commentary and critique over what has transpired, and this year has been no exception. What …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Ideas offered to find Festival’s ‘roots’”
COMMENTARY — Former citizenship rules get more scrutiny
I have written more than one commentary on this subject. I think that if you stay with me we can come to a place where there is understanding of what …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Former citizenship rules get more scrutiny”
COMMENTARY — Call made to clean up Festival
This year we have been reminded repeatedly of the origins of our August Emancipation Festival. The lessons came from elders, educators and historians; from the pulpit; from the Sunday Morning …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Call made to clean up Festival”
EDITORIAL: Recovery plan is still too vague
Though the government’s new “Recovery to Development Plan” lists general spending projections and touts many laudable goals, it is disappointingly vague. Because the document does not include specific priorities and …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Recovery plan is still too vague”
EDITORIAL: Post-Irma, scaled-back Festival with culture focus is a good plan
In the post-Hurricane Irma landscape, we welcome government’s plan to scale back the August Emancipation Festival while ramping up its emphasis on culture and history. As the celebrations get under …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Post-Irma, scaled-back Festival with culture focus is a good plan”
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK (August 2, 2018)
Festival printing schedule Because of the August Emancipation Festival holidays Monday through Wednesday, the Beacon won’t publish next week. The temporary office in Pasea will reopen next Thursday, however, and …
COMMENTARY — Roadmap offered for ‘truly modern’ VI
As the Virgin Islands continues to rebuild from hurricanes Irma and Maria, a compelling vision is needed to capture the imagination of the people of the islands and gain the …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Roadmap offered for ‘truly modern’ VI”
COMMENTARY — Writer weighs in on trash transparency, tourism
I support Michael Riegel’s complaints in last week’s Beacon about our postal services, updating those expressed by others over many years. I recently voiced my own concern that some of …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Writer weighs in on trash transparency, tourism”
COMMENTARY — Businesses seen as key to recovery
Locally owned small businesses are critical for getting the Virgin Islands out of recession. Small business is at the core of the VI economic engine. Building strong small businesses is …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Businesses seen as key to recovery”
COMMENTARY — Former citizenship rules draw more fire
In an earlier commentary, I referred to certain categories of ancestral Virgin Islanders who were placed at a disadvantage by the 1948 British Nationality Act. Among these were illegitimate children; …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Former citizenship rules draw more fire”
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK (July 26, 2018)
Tourism problems, tourism solutions At a tourism stakeholder meeting hosted by the BVI Tourist Board on Tuesday morning, one attendee raised his hand and made an interesting point: Some of …
August Festival plans praised
I was pleased to hear of the scaled-down August Emancipation Festival programme to one of more cultural significance. On the day of its announcement, my devotional reading (BRF with Barbara …
COMMENTARY — Postal system called ‘disgrace’
I read with a wry smile in your esteemed newspaper that the government is moving forward to establish physical addresses for all properties in the Virgin Islands, one of the …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Postal system called ‘disgrace’”
COMMENTARY — Former nationality rules draw scrutiny
When I speak of ancestral Virgin Islanders, I am referring to those persons whose ancestry goes back to the middle and late 1800s. I expect that such persons would have …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Former nationality rules draw scrutiny”
COMMENTARY — Tortola visits, 52 years apart, recounted
In September 1966, I was a 22-year-old American Peace Corps trainee straight out of college, fortunately placed on Tortola for two months of agricultural training in chickens and gardens. My …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Tortola visits, 52 years apart, recounted”
EDITORIAL: Human rights law needed urgently
It is disheartening that the long-delayed Human Rights Commission Act was removed from the House of Assembly’s agenda last week. For about a decade, legislators have been promising to pass …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Human rights law needed urgently”
EDITORIAL: Kudos to post-Irma graduates, who now have much work to do
Special kudos are due to this year’s graduates, many of whom have demonstrated remarkable perseverance to finish school after Hurricane Irma. Their challenges, we suspect, are far from over. Nevertheless, …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Kudos to post-Irma graduates, who now have much work to do”
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK (July 19, 2018)
News next door Sometimes Beaconites have to find the news; other times it finds them. On Monday, Virgin Gorda recycler Julie Swartz of Green and Clean VI was next door …
COMMENTARY — Will runway project bring enough planes?
If the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport runway is extended and terminal upgraded, will major airlines from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and so on dash to start nonstop …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Will runway project bring enough planes?”
COMMENTARY — Call made for church unity
Over the past years, many Christian residents, including ministers of religion, government ministers, politicians and many others, keep saying that this is a Christian community. However, the actions of many …
COMMENTARY — ‘Dedicated walker’ recounts more travels
I related in “Walker recounts travels of his youth” (Beacon, June 28) how I came to work in Linz, Upper Austria, in a Quaker organisation helping to settle refugees from …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — ‘Dedicated walker’ recounts more travels”
COMMENTARY — Recession potential causes concerns
The United States economy is booming, and it is expected to grow 4.5 percent this year. This is a very strong growth rate, and it is unusual for the current …
Continue reading “COMMENTARY — Recession potential causes concerns”