"The light that comes from wisdom never goes out"
After three long years, two conflicting narratives have emerged about the Commission of Inquiry reforms. On one extreme is the view that they will usher in a golden era of …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: COI brought major progress, but work must not stop now”
The recently completed law-enforcement review offers an extensive 10-year plan to solve appalling security failures caused by decades of underfunding and other neglect by the United Kingdom and Virgin Islands …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Security recs mostly sound, but UK power grab not okay”
The government won’t meet tomorrow’s deadline for completing the sweeping reforms recommended by the Commission of Inquiry, but it aims to finish the job by the end of next week, …
Continue reading “COI reform deadline missed again, but new target set for next week”
May 31 marked the expiration of the original two-year deadline to implement the 48 agreed governance reforms recommended by the 2022 Commission of Inquiry report. With Governor Daniel Pruce now …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: New COI reform target must be met”
House of Assembly members voted this week to make changes to their Register of Interests, but the extent of those changes is not clear because a bill they passed Tuesday …
Continue reading “HOA votes to change Register of Interests”
When lawmakers voted in July 2022 to make the Register of Interests public as advised by the Commission of Inquiry, they also added several viewing restrictions that drew strong criticism …
Continue reading “Bill keeps restrictions on interests register”
A major international report released Monday raises serious concerns about the territory’s ability to deal with money laundering and other financial crime, leading one expert to warn that “red lights” …
Continue reading “Money laundering report brings threat of ‘grey list’”
Last month, outgoing governor John Rankin wrote to United Kingdom Overseas Territories Minister David Rutley to request additional powers to help his successor push through delayed Commission of Inquiry reforms. …
In January 2021, Governor John Rankin arrived in the Virgin Islands days after his predecessor dropped a political bombshell by announcing a Commission of Inquiry into possible corruption in the …
Works to implement the Commission of Inquiry reforms are still progressing steadily, according to Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley. As of September, 24 of 50 recommendations from last year’s COI …
A week after Governor John Rankin released his most recent quarterly report on the Commission of Inquiry recommendations, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley defended his government’s progress on the reforms …
Important progress has been made on governance reforms recommended last year by the Commission of Inquiry, but much more work is needed to ensure that they will “take root” by …
Continue reading “Guv upbeat on COI reforms, but says more work needed”
Despite the recent change in overseas territory ministerial leadership and the pending change of governor early next year, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley said on July 25 that progress on …
Virgin Islands leaders will have to speed up governance reforms to meet an important May 2024 deadline, Governor John Rankin said on June 9 while giving an update on his …
Continue reading “Rankin: COI reform progress ‘still too slow’”
As of Jan. 31, work had begun on 49 of 50 of the reform measures government promised following the Commission of Inquiry, with 19 already complete and 30 under way, …
Continue reading “19 Commission of Inquiry reforms complete by Jan. 31”
Kudos to Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley for hosting regular press conferences ever since he was appointed premier last May. At sessions held every few weeks — often flanked by …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Press conferences a big step toward transparency”
After “much consideration,” Governor John Rankin announced his plan to assent to the Register of Interests (Amendment) Act, 2022 despite his misgivings about amendments legislators made behind closed doors. However, …
Continue reading “Guv gives one year to fix interests register”
Thirteen of the 50 reform measures government promised following the Commission of Inquiry were complete by the end of October, with 35 more in progress and two scheduled to start …
Continue reading “13 Commission of Inquiry reforms complete as of unit’s latest report”