"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”
Consider a worker who is victimised because of his race or religion. Or an expatriate whose employer confiscates her passport in order to control her movements. Or a woman who …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: High time for a human-rights watchdog”
The House of Assembly and Governor Daniel Pruce should be ashamed of themselves for leaving in place absurd rules limiting the public’s access to HOA members’ Register of Interests. In …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Register of Interests a shameful COI fail”
We are cautiously optimistic about the sensible plans included in the legislative agenda unveiled in the recent Speech from the Throne even though the to-do list appears overly ambitious for …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Aligning HOA agenda with national plan is wise”
Kudos to the hundreds of residents who took part in the recent re-enactment of the 1949 Great March. Together, they staged an impressive and appropriate commemoration of an enormously important …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Great March lessons still ring true today”
The government still hasn’t released the completed part of an ongoing review of the proposed airport expansion, but residents will get a chance to weigh in on the long-delayed project …
Continue reading “Public airport meetings to start Tuesday in Road Town”
We fear we spoke too soon. Last November, we praised the Virgin Islands government for preliminary steps that should have boosted transparency surrounding the proposed expansion of the Terrance B. …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Government must stop backpedaling on airport transparency”
The House of Assembly began tackling its final Commission of Inquiry reform this week as legislators debated the first of five bills designed to improve the governance of five statutory …
We are disappointed that the government and the governor missed their Aug. 31 deadline to complete the Commission of Inquiry reforms, but the delay does not detract from the extensive …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: COI reforms must be finished, then followed”
Like many residents, we are dumbfounded. We cannot even begin to understand how the government’s laudable attempt to update all public officers’ salaries to a “living wage” misfired so badly …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Public needs answers on giant salary mistake”
The House of Assembly has passed a motion to allow Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton to retain his seat even though a company he leads is renewing a $36,000-a-month contract to …
Continue reading “HOA okays Skelton contract worth $36k monthly”
Much has changed in the 40 years since The BVI Beacon was born in a small wooden house on Main Street in Road Town. But one thing that has not …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: From us to you, 40 years later”
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”
Imagine the following scenarios. A concerned East End resident wants to know where burglars have struck in her neighbourhood. A voter wonders if a government minister is favouring a certain …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: With no freedom-of-info law, Virgin Islands falling behind”
The Virgin Islands received a harsh wake-up call last month. The latest mutual evaluation by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force highlighted glaring deficiencies in the territory’s systems for combatting …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Anti-money laundering regime must be improved dramatically”
Ever since the Register of Interests Act was passed in 2008, the register has not functioned properly because legislators have used every trick in the book to hamstring it. For …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: HOA must fix flawed Register of Interests”
Was the United Kingdom aware of allegations linking then-Premier Andrew Fahie to crimes before it launched the Commission of Inquiry? Did Governor John Rankin authorise the United States sting operation …
Continue reading “In exit interview, Rankin talks COI, Fahie arrest, Covid”
It’s about time. After more than a decade of bumbling attempts to expand the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, government is finally taking the proposal back to the drawing board …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Finally, airport business case put to tender”
The BVI Airports Authority is seeking proposals for a comprehensive business case to decide the way forward for the development of the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport. The study — …
Continue reading “In a first, government seeks full business case for airport expansion”
Elected officials’ recent squabbles in the House of Assembly reflect a failure to work together and carry out the important business of governing the Virgin Islands. During the HOA meeting …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: HOA should stop bickering and get down to business”
We are delighted that the government plans to launch a public crown land register that can be viewed online. Even better, the register is only one part of ongoing reforms …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Crown land reform a long time in coming”
As part of ongoing efforts to implement reforms suggested by the 2022 Commission of Inquiry report, the government is working with the Commonwealth Secretariat to improve the way public debt …
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. …
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 …
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 …
Continue reading “Constitutional review gets six extra months”
