A black dog under PAW BVI’s care joined more than 100 human attendees last Thursday at Government House to celebrate the non-profit organisation’s recent accomplishment of sponsoring the spaying or …
March 14, 2025
February 20, 2025
With commish search stalled, senior cop resigns
A high-level resignation has raised questions about the leadership of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force at a time when the search for a new commissioner is stalled pending a …
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February 20, 2025
Auditor general probing salary error
Auditor General Sonia Webster is investigating how the government dramatically underestimated the cost of public-service salary increases awarded last year, according to Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley. He made the disclosure …
February 19, 2025
EDITORIAL: Register of Interests a shameful COI fail
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 …
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February 10, 2025
HOA defied ex-guv on interests register
Last year, legislators quietly defied former governor John Rankin on a key governance reform, ignoring his request to boost transparency by scrapping stringent rules that restrict public access to their …
January 14, 2025
EDITORIAL: Aligning HOA agenda with national plan is wise
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 …
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January 9, 2025
Throne speech pegged to plan
The first Speech from the Throne in two years emphasised the elected government’s determination to push ahead with the six broad goals laid out in the territory’s National Sustainable Development …
December 16, 2024
Prison gets boost from UK support
Expert advice and new equipment were part of a recent United Kingdom-funded support package for His Majesty’s Prison Service, according to government. The package — which was designed to enhance …
November 22, 2024
EDITORIAL: UK minister missed the mark on transparency
For decades, successive governors and other United Kingdom leaders have pressured the Virgin Islands government to be more transparent. They are right to do so. But the UK must also …
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November 8, 2024
Top cop search on hold as job ‘redefined’
The process to recruit a new police commissioner has been temporarily suspended as the territory faces increasingly complex security challenges, Governor Daniel Pruce has announced. The effort to replace Mark …
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November 7, 2024
OT minister visits, avoiding press and public meetings
United Kingdom Overseas Territories Minister Stephen Doughty visited the Virgin Islands this week to assess the recent Commission of Inquiry reforms and meet with leaders eager to convince him that …
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November 7, 2024
Free eye tests offered for Diabetes Month
On Tuesday morning, several residents waited patiently in the BVI Diabetes Resource Centre in Road Town for a free screening to determine if they are at risk for an eye …
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October 31, 2024
Audit blasts 2019-2022 contracting procedures
The government tendered fewer than half of the major contracts it awarded between 2019 and 2022, and it often passed over the lowest offer for the rest, according to a …
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October 3, 2024
COI reforms off gov’t desk, premier says
After the House of Assembly passed the last of five bills to reform statutory bodies last Thursday, Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley boasted this week that his government has completed …
September 17, 2024
36 registered as British citizens
Thirty-six people were recently registered as British citizens after previously having been naturalised as British overseas territories citizens, government announced. During a ceremony held Aug. 27 at the Government House, …
September 12, 2024
EDITORIAL: COI reforms must be finished, then followed
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 …
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September 4, 2024
12 bills laid days before COI deadline
Two days before the missed Saturday deadline for completing the sweeping reforms recommended by the Commission of Inquiry, the House of Assembly suspended its usual rules to introduce 12 bills. …
August 30, 2024
COI reform deadline missed again, but new target set for next week
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, …
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August 29, 2024
EDITORIAL: Public needs answers on giant salary mistake
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 …
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August 29, 2024
Governor signs off on public aid reform
Struggling residents will have new ways to get help under a law that received assent from Governor Daniel Pruce on Aug. 22, government announced. An amendment to the Public Assistance …
July 26, 2024
HOA passes governor’s inquiry bill
Shortly after 10 p.m. on Tuesday, the House of Assembly returned from closed-door committee and passed an amended version of a bill proposed by Governor Daniel Pruce to modernise the …
July 18, 2024
Guv’s inquiry bill sparks cries of ‘dictatorship’
On Tuesday in the House of Assembly, two legislators used the word “dictatorship” to decry a bill that Governor Daniel Pruce is proposing to modernise the Commission of Inquiry Act …
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July 17, 2024
52 new British citizens take oath
Fifty-two people became British citizens during a June 20 ceremony at Government House, where they received congratulations from Governor Daniel Pruce and Registrar General Tashi O’Flaherty-Maduro. “Today you have taken …
July 10, 2024
EDITORIAL: After scathing security review, UK and VI leaders must step up
Residents may be forgiven for feeling numb on the release of yet another scathing report about governance failings in the Virgin Islands. The 2022 Commission of Inquiry, the conviction of …
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June 4, 2024
EDITORIAL: New COI reform target must be met
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 …
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