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Thomas family will 'not be manipulated' by VI Gov’t- Elaine M. Thomas-Griffith
Thomas-Griffith this time appeared on a radio show on 107.9 FM The Vibe in St Thomas, USVI on Friday, May 10, 2024.
Gov't must do the right thing- Thomas-Griffith
“We had been begging the government for years, to do what we knew the contract with us provided… we always believe that the government would do the right thing and eventually sit with us and negotiate what the contract called for, a fair adjustment to the lease terms,” she said.
Thomas-Griffith continued that an initial proposal of $4 per square foot, which is below market value, was offered and the family is not looking to get rich off the land, but to make the land available.
“We never believe for one moment that we would be in this position where the government actually is attempting to undermine their own contractual provisions. It is important for us to be here because, frankly, the people have been told a lot of lies.”
Thomas-Griffith said part of the issue is over market value of the lands where the family has never sought to get fair market value for the land. “In fact, when we began the negotiations, we began them at 50% below the lowest rate, which the government’s own evaluator said this land can go for, which is around $9.00," she said.
“So, we actually began our negotiations saying, you know what this is not about us getting rich on this, that's simply not what it is, it was a passion for my father,” he said.
No manipulation - Mrs Thomas-Griffith
Ms Thomas-Griffith added that the Thomas family will not be manipulated into accepting low rates for the lease of the land in respect of their late father. “He left his children with a clear mandate concerning this land, that if the Premier is listening, he should hear me say, this land is not for sale. What you do on it has to be an activity that continues to foster the racing in a wholesome way for the people of the BVI.”
She said the government leased lands from the other landowner at the track for one cent per square foot for several years.
“You will not be able to intimidate my family and we certainly are educated people, so we read your document and we understand that this is an opportunity for the BVI to move forward and advance horse racing, but it's also an opportunity for the government to do that which is just and fair and right concerning the land owners that have land in this track,” she added.
Many have been calling for the government to resolve the impasse with the Thomas family so that horse racing can be held for the 70th Emancipation Festival.
Efforts to get a comment from Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) were futile.
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62 Responses to “Thomas family will 'not be manipulated' by VI Gov’t- Elaine M. Thomas-Griffith”
We saw this playbook with the UK damming letter which was suppressed and delayed from the pubic.
Central control of the government’s budget by one man is bad practice and inefficient! Another one of head couch invented schemes!
The master mind of wasting government money is now with electricity, but money will continue to waste!
Let us put a $$$ value to this annual lease please.
Thankyou
43560x6= 261,360 sq ft
261,360 sq ft x 4.00= 1,045,440
these are usually done on a yearly basis.
A mil per year ??? Wow.." not wanting to get rich of the property".?? How many years you been leasing it out ???
Maybe the land owner should run the horse race track make it a business enterprise then see how it works out.
Just sayin
HIM BACK TO REALITY AND DO THE RIGHT THING BY USING *INTEGRITY* AND REALLY GET ( S C B ) MOVING FORWARD / BUT THEN AGAIN
HIS EGO ,MIGHT OVERPOWER HIM AGAIN ???? daRM
Typical tolian rather things sit and get nothing than take a little payment to maintain it ! Let hope the weed wacker man charge you 4$per square foot before trees carpet that plot !
Move the track to another location and leave the Thomas Family with their land. Please do not waste the taxpayers' dollars to secure a new lease with the reference family. It is not worth it. Let's build a better and modern track elsewhere in the Virgin Islands. When you want all in the end you get nothing. Let's move on pass this. The horses are already out the Territory, so let's make a decision and move to a new location that the government owns out right which mean no leases to expire including terms and conditions to change.
the tax payers money is used freely to for entertainment, you know put large sums of money in the pockets of the Artist from outside
now when it comes to our own people look pun drama……
Horse racing was in BVI for years and might I say at the same location however suddenly hole thing mash up
just a few years ago our tax money paid over thirty thousand dollars each month to a white guy associated with the established RDA(do the math) because that been around here for a while
treating our own *
BVILANDERS * , so don't expect any better , ( you read it here first / more power to us , and the key word is ( POWER ) YEP ITS ALL ABOUT THAT MIGHTY POWER . the last election was friendly reminder of the games that these so called ARISTOCRATS operate
I could see you don’t have a clue of what you talking about. So you saying that the owners have to catch a boat 3:00 in the morning to watch there horse dem work out and catch a boat back tola to do the same thing in the afternoon? Your an :$$s or wa?
The owners can hire a person or company in Anegada to do that, you genius. Or they can work out a private grooming arrangement with the Thomas family and ship the horses over to Anegada for the races. You have no problem when they ship the horses to USVI for races, eh?
What about horse owners from Anegada? Or Virgin Gorda?
Suppose the government were to tax the owners on their prize monies? Then you would be calling them names too? You people believe the tax payers should be paying ransom money to the Thomas's. Or for the horse owners' convenience and the other sh!+ you all like to get away with.
Research the facts before you start speaking...
The lands that are currently used by the horsetrack are comprised of lands leased from private individuals and Crown land. The lands that comprise the southern half of the race track are owned by the Thomas family and are made up of 3 lots of land amounting to roughly 6 and a half acres. That's fact... look it up at Land Registry if you wish to actually learn the truth.
Now, regarding this saga with the racetrack, I am no horseracing aficionado and have no stake in this entire incident except for the fact that I am a tax-payer and MY taxes have been going into paying for this lease for years. If its a matter of national interest as far as a necessity that benefits the entire country and cannot be reasonably gotten elsewhere on more favorable terms (food, water, roads, electricity, security, etc.) then I am fine with the Government seeking to acquire the lands either by purchase or compulsory acquisition. But, for a niche interest that is primarily about entertainment, gambling and other less-savoury activities, then I am at a loss why we are so concerned about forcing the family to come to terms.
Right now we have much greater priorities than mere entertainment to be concerned about. Is anyone asking what value for money we get on many of these infrastructural projects like the sewerage plants, the roadworks, etc? Or do we simply ascribe to the simplistic philosophy that "its circulating money in the country"? Just because my neighbor makes 5 million dollars doesn't mean that it "circulates" to me. Rather, he will use that money to create more means to suck more monies out of MY pocket and into his. As an example, we have more cruise ships with more passengers yet can the average person tell me where they have personally seen a gain in their income or are they still still with wages they are not satisfied with, an over-burdened and crumbling infrastructure, an educational system that seemingly churns out mediocrity and calls it "greatness", amidst a society that seems to be falling apart with violence, drug and sex trafficking, blue and white collar crimes, and general immorality on the rise?
My people, we are poor, blind, wretched and naked yet, we seem to be so puffed up and fileld with foolish pride while chasing after emptiness and vanity. Wake up!
This is not worth it... focus on what's meaningful for ourselves and our children (whether born here or not... we're in this together) and stop messing around with foolishness and short-sighted nonsense. Horse-racing is a sport, fueled by gambling, that abuses the lives and health of the poor animals that are used to keep it going and discarded like trash the minute their usefulness ends. It this what we are killing ourselves over rather that seeking accountability and transparency from our leaders?
Wake up!
91k to use the track a year... no if they get sued for anything on that land related to horse racing and entertaining the public en mass... is government going to pay for their lawyer?