"The light that comes from wisdom never goes out"
Reforms to governance, education, environmental protection, health care and other areas are among the government’s legislative priorities for a new House of Assembly session that started Tuesday, Governor John Rankin …
Continue reading “Throne speech promises wide-ranging reforms”
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”
Following the recent leadership shakeup in the United Kingdom, senior UK officials have postponed meetings with leaders in the Virgin Islands and other overseas territories. Former OT Minister Jesse Norman …
Continue reading “Meetings with United Kingdom leaders delayed”
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States called on the United Kingdom this week to withdraw the order in council that is being held in reserve to suspend the Virgin Islands …
This month brought good and bad news as Governor John Rankin and Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley both reported on the first three months of the ongoing Commission of Inquiry …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Government, governor must collaborate on reform promises”
Three days after Governor John Rankin released his first quarterly review on the implementation of the Commission of Inquiry recommendations, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley said the document included criticisms …
Governor John Rankin on Oct. 4 published his first quarterly report on the ongoing reforms recommended by the Commission of Inquiry, guardedly praising the overall progress while also noting a …
Continue reading “Kudos and ‘concern’: Governor reviews reforms”
Legislators created a special select Reform Committee on Sept. 27 to help ensure that the House of Assembly meets its law-making obligations under the National Unity Government’s framework for implementing …
More than 11,000 pages of supporting documents that Governor John Rankin received with the Commission of Inquiry report on April 4 were posted last week on government’s website — more …
Continue reading “Commission of Inquiry supporting documents now public”
The recent Commission of Inquiry reported finding evidence that the Premier’s Office under former Premier Andrew Fahie may have obstructed government auditors investigating Covid-19 assistance programmes. A new law is …
Hoping to address long-standing issues with the territory’s jury pool that resulted in legal action in 2019, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley recently introduced a bill in the House of …
Last week government backbencher Mark Vanterpool once again got permission to retain his seat in the House of Assembly while one of his businesses secures a government contract. To make …
Several recovery projects are far behind schedule as the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Irma approaches, but Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley said during a Aug. 8 press conference that the …
The framework for carrying out Commission of Inquiry recommendations includes a deluge of deadlines for July, but Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley said last week that his National Unity Government …
On June 30, legislators missed their deadline to make the Register of Interests public and establish penalties for violating declaration rules. On July 21, however, they passed a bill to …
More than a month ago, the new National Unity Government agreed to work with the United Kingdom to carry out reforms recommended by the Commission of Inquiry — thereby avoiding …
With a general election due early next year, there is a very real danger that a divisive campaign season could derail the ongoing governance reforms and trigger direct rule by …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Next year’s general election must not derail reforms”
The House of Assembly missed its deadline on June 30 to pass legislation to reform the Register of Interests by making it public. However, Governor John Rankin said the next …
Continue reading “Interests bill tabled, but not passed by deadline”
Despite a missed deadline to publish the Register of Interests by June 30, Governor John Rankin and Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley said on July 1 that they are pleased …
Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley recently thanked fellow leaders of British overseas territories for their support in the aftermath of the Commission of Inquiry report, and he offered to help …
This week residents were given the first public opportunity to weigh in on the plan the Virgin Islands and United Kingdom governments have agreed for carrying out every Commission of …
Despite a few hitches, the National Unity Government is off to a good start with the governance reforms agreed with the United Kingdom. Already, the territory is seeing badly needed …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: So far, so good on governance reforms”
Make no mistake: The people of the Virgin Islands are fed up. For decades, they have watched their elected leaders waste taxpayer money, reward cronies, shun transparency, and otherwise break …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Reform detractors should put up or shut up”
A bundle of more than 100 supporting documents submitted to the governor with the Commission of Inquiry report — including contracts, letters, emails, minutes, memoranda and numerous other types of …
The National Unity Government is on track to meet most of the deadlines stipulated by its agreement with the United Kingdom for implementing the Commission of Inquiry recommendations and avoiding …
Continue reading “Premier says government is on track to hit COI targets”
