A public Crown Land Allocation Register will be created soon and posted online, according to Ronald Smith-Berkeley, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change. …
EDITORIAL: Prospect has prospects
We are glad that the new government is jump-starting long-delayed plans to redevelop the Prospect Reef Resort. To hear Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley tell it, leaders seem to be …
Constitutional review gets six extra months
The Constitutional Review Commission has requested and received a six-month extension beyond its original June deadline to produce a report, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley said recently in the House …
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EDITORIAL: Airport project won’t work without full transparency
For more than a decade, a disturbing lack of transparency has surrounded multiple governments’ unsuccessful efforts to expand the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport. The new government must turn over …
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EDITORIAL: Now it’s time to get to work
The people have spoken, and the territory’s democratic machinery has processed their input and delivered a government headed by Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley. Though voters did not give Dr. …
EDITORIAL: Vote, but do it wisely
A democracy is only as strong as the citizens who participate meaningfully in its affairs. And that goes double for any democracy facing the sort of turmoil that has beset …
Throne speech promises wide-ranging reforms
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 …
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EDITORIAL: Open the interests register with no restrictions
Our first draft of this editorial praised legislators for passing a bill last month to finally make the Register of Interests public, thereby promoting the sort of government transparency that …
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EDITORIAL: Funding the reforms
Given the developments of recent weeks, it seems clear that badly needed governance reforms are coming to the Virgin Islands by the hook or by the crook. This is great …
EDITORIAL: Keep the press conferences coming
Kudos to Premier Andrew Fahie for holding regular press conferences in recent months, and to opposition members for hosting similar sessions fairly frequently as well. We hope this practice will …
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EDITORIAL: Publish the COI report. Now.
For all the talk about transparency that has come out of the Governor’s Office in recent years, we were disappointed by Governor John Rankin’s decision not to release the Commission …
VI gets good marks in governance report
The future holds many possibilities for the governance of the Virgin Islands, and one expert said last week that the territory has a solid foundation for exploring ways to take …
EDITORIAL: Direct UK rule should be a very last resort
The stakes are high as the United Kingdom-appointed Commission of Inquiry prepares to submit its recommendations to Governor John Rankin next month. Following two similar COIs in the Turks and …
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Facing COI, Fahie explains rocky UK relationship
In response to allegations of poor governance aired during the ongoing Commission of Inquiry, Premier Andrew Fahie last week described a pattern of systemic problems with the Virgin Islands’ constitutional …
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Deputy premier slams inquiry at United Nations meeting
As the Commission of Inquiry continued its work here in the territory, Deputy Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley repeated the government’s often-stated complaints about the process this month before a …
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COMMENTARY — Bad governance blamed for ‘hell on earth’
Poor governance is a road to hell on earth for a country or territory’s residents. Once upon a time, there was a land in Africa sitting on the fertile and …
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EDITORIAL: Boards mishandled, almost across the board
In recent weeks, hearings in the Commission of Inquiry have again highlighted a longstanding problem in the territory: Successive governments have used exceedingly poor practice when appointing and removing the …
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EDITORIAL: As inquiry resumes, government must provide info
As the Commission of Inquiry resumes hearings on Monday, the government should turn over a new leaf by quickly and completely producing all requested information so that the probe can …
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EDITORIAL: The Register of Interests is broken. No surprise there
In recent days, the Commission of Inquiry has shone a glaring spotlight on the long-standing need to reform the system through which legislators declare their interests, a task that leaders …
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EDITORIAL: Government must respond fully to COI requests
After the Commission of Inquiry was announced in January, Premier Andrew Fahie and other leaders promised that the government would assist investigators by providing requested information as transparently as possible. …
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EDITORIAL: A memo for Governor John Rankin
We welcome Governor John Rankin, who takes office at a time when the territory’s relationship with the United Kingdom is as strained as it has been in recent memory. He …
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COMMENTARY — Better governance seen as key to independence
There will be no greater autonomy or independence in United Kingdom overseas territories until their residents trust local government. Recent crises in OT governance in the Turks and Caicos Islands …
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EDITORIAL: Inquiry will need a tightly focused strategy
With a monumental task to complete in only six months, the commission of inquiry must devise a tightly focused strategy for shining its powerful spotlight into the dark corners of …
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Interview: Departing governor reviews tenure
After arriving just 16 days before Hurricane Irma devastated the Virgin Islands in 2017, Governor Gus Jaspert has since been largely focused on the territory’s recovery and the Covid-19 …
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EDITORIAL: Before airport expansion, transparency needed
If leaders in the new government proceed with their predecessors’ plan to expand the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, they must turn over a new leaf by being fully transparent …
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