Stricter background checks for expats needed- Speak Out BVI
The host of Speak out BVI on ZBVI 780 AM, Doug Wheatley, said that was one of the suggestions one person who sought him out made.
Reference was made to the recent Windy Hill murder of Alston Penn on March 10, 2017.
Presently, Santo Yamarco Hernandez, 38, a native of the Dominican Republic, residing in Spring Ghut, was charged with Penn’s murder following an appearance at the Magistrate’s Court on April 4, 2017. He is now on remand at Her Majesty’s Prison.
According to court information, the Dominican Republic man had left the territory soon after the incident and returned after some time, when the local police pounced on him.
Criminals skip town with ease and return
“A gentleman called and he said that he was concerned and he was not the only person, he was speaking on behalf of other persons about the fact that homicides are being committed in the BVI and apparently some of the perpetrators of some of these crimes are not from the BVI,” he recounted. “And as soon as they have committed the heinous crime, they skip town, whether it is by boat or by plane and when they think everything has cooled off, and nobody is looking for them, they return to the territory.”
“The ease with which they can flee as it were the crime scene, leave the territory and then come back, it speaks to perhaps some of the checking that needs to be done on some of the persons who are entering the BVI and the background checks and that sort of thing, perhaps needs to be stepped up and perhaps that is not being done enough or they are not being done sufficiently to satisfy the problem.”
“A lot of people talk to me”
According to Mr Wheatley, a lot of people talk to him and they have concerns. “And they want to express those concerns, and they express them to me. Of course, I am not a paid servant of the people I am just a man who has offered my services to help to educate and whatever I can do I definitely will do,” Doug Wheatley stated.
According to the outspoken host, many people are hurting and other avenues are not open to them.
“A lot of the people are hurting, have a lot of issues and I guess they come to people like myself because they feel like the other avenues that are opened to them are perhaps not really responding as they would like them too. So they talk to people like me and other talk show hosts,” he explained.
Mr Wheatley added that many are concerned with the rise in crime and the question is what or who is next?
“We were never like that”
“And that’s not good for a little place like the BVI, we have not been used to that sort of thing. When I was a young boy growing up and people had their differences they would settle them with feisty cuffs. At the end of the fight, they would hug up each other and go and have a drink or continue to be friends. But all of a sudden, we have in our society, a situation where people will tell you I going home to get my piece or I am going home to come back. We were never like that and somehow we have to cut it out, we can’t live like that.”
Mr Wheatley said people are also complaining that because of the rise in criminal activities they do not feel comfortable to park and take a snooze in the night when they are tired, rather they prefer to risk their lives to make it home behind the wheel.
“People are scared to death to park their cars along the road and to sleep…persons would be inclined to see somebody in a car and maybe see that opportunity to rob them or something like that,” Wheatley noted. “This is not part of our culture, part of our behaviour and we must get rid of it.”
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27 Responses to “Stricter background checks for expats needed- Speak Out BVI”
I have my opinion.
There are a lot of expats living here in the BVI from all around the world who don't think much of BVIslanders at all and are just here to take advantage of whatever they can have. They like that we have US currency and easy access to the US and they only see us as a pit stop on their way there. They talk negatively about the BVI and its people and think everything about us is a joke but yet still they are here. They boldfully admit they are using us and brag about all that they build back home and how much money they have in the bank and how they will be leaving soon. They have no interest in learning about the history or culture of the BVI people yet still the premiere and ministers keep bragging about how diverse we are while the indigenous population dwindles and constantly get disrespected. Then they wonder why young BVIslanders don't want to return home once they leave. This only further solidify some of these expats arrogance in thinking we need them so they can do whatever we want. Then when we finally get around to making laws to tighten restrictions and monitor who comes and goes, people kick up a storm in outrage to protect these same people who laugh at us behind our backs.
Take for instance the law that passed last year making it mandatory for foreign boats to clear customs. So many people, including BVIslanders made a great fuss about this saying how it's a violation of rights and the government is too strict but that standard had already been into effect for many countries all around the world. Then two weeks later a charter boat from St.Maarten was found in our waters uncleared. Furthermore, it turned out that the company from which the boat came habitually sold BVI tours and day trips without any permission from our goverment. To this day, not one red cent has been seen from this foreign tour company that sells the VI (yes, they are still selling us). It makes you wonder, how long has this been going on? How many other people have been doing it? And how many unknown, undocumented people have been moving through the BVI all this time? How could have something like that have had been happening in a post 9-11 world? Why is it people expect and approve lawlessness in the BVI?
I'm not quite sold on fingerprinting all the expats who enter the BVI but I do agree we need to do more indepth background checks. We also need to keep monitoring expats once they come to the Virgin Islands. We need to know if they changed jobs or got a raise, if they got married or had children (regardless of whether they are home or in the BVI). We need to ensure they are paying their taxes, their rent, thier kids school fees and whatever else. In the most recent article about Santo who murdered Alston Penn, Santo claimed he was estranged from his VI girlfriend and renting a place but had no fixed income. How can you be a foreigner in a country and not have a fixed income? How have you been surviving then? Had tabs been kept on him maybe..... because he would have been on a watch list for deportation. Then on top of that, this man who had a work permit but no stable job had the freedom to come and go here without being a citizen? Again, how does this happen in a post 9-11 world?
The BVI is clearly behind on survalince and need to get with the program.