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UK Gov’t has no plans to impose direct rule on VI- Gov Duncan
The Governor of the Virgin Islands was speaking at a press conference called today August 19, 2016 at the Governor’s Residence to mark his two years as Her Majesty’s Representative here.
It was Minister for Communications and Works and Fourth District Representative, Hon Mark H. Vanterpool, who had used the platform at the opening of Virgin Islands Emancipation Festival on July 25, 2016 to tell the people that the British Government is coming to impose direct rule.
Honourable Vanterpool had said, while “some” would prefer him to be silent, the territory’s freedom is under threat by the United Kingdom, noting that it is important also for those who might not be listening all the time, “who are a bit too busy, to understand and for some of us in leadership positions” to remind them that “more than once and more than twice” the United Kingdom Government had contemplated instituting direct rule over the Virgin Islands (VI) again.
No plans to impose direct rule
But according to Governor Duncan, “there are currently no plans by the UK Government to impose direct rule, so there is no argument to be had on this matter.”
Ask why Government Ministers would make such a statement to the public, Governor Duncan suggested that the Ministers might have been forming a conclusion without getting all the details.
He recalled that negotiations between the UK and the VI to adopt new models of financial service regulation have not been an easy one and have been ongoing for nearly three years.
“Not all Ministers or members of the Legislature were aware of the details of that negotiations. I believe their reaction to learning about where we had got to, how difficult it was, has prompted those calls.”
Hon Vanterpool and Minister for Education and Culture Hon Myron V. Walwyn have also been leading the call for self-determination.
Public has responded to calls for independence?
However, Governor Duncan is of the view that the majority of the Virgin Islands does not want to go in that direction, saying he thinks the public has been fairly sensible in their reaction to those calls for independence.
“In recent weeks, we have seen a number of senior politicians propose the need for constitutional reform and perhaps independence. The response from the public to the latter question rather speaks for itself. The attachment of the people of this community to the United Kingdom was no better demonstrated than in the turnout for the celebrations of Her Majesty the Queen's 90th birthday. The message you sent in all the celebrations ranging from the parade, the beacon lighting, the Salt Island re-enactment, the stamps and license plates will have been noticed beyond these shores.”
Governor did say, however, that certain officials in the British government believed that the position of the Virgin Islands [regarding financial services] was not what they wanted and they wanted to consider the option of imposing the British Government’s view. “That was taken up to the highest level of the United Kingdom and dismissed.”
Governor Duncan had earlier said that the Virgin Islands is the only Overseas Territory in the Caribbean never to have required the United Kingdom Government to recover the powers it has delegated to the locally elected government but that “such a pace of change” inevitably creates tensions and challenges and it is a testament to the people of the Virgin Islands, their character and values that this process remains essentially on track.
“That is not to say that there is nothing left to do. On the contrary, my visits to other Overseas Territories such as Cayman last year and to Bermuda earlier this year illustrated the need to continue the work to develop our basic infrastructure and public services, such as power, water and sewage, electricity, medical services, communications; in sum all the basics of life that the public expect in a modern developed society.”
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16 Responses to “UK Gov’t has no plans to impose direct rule on VI- Gov Duncan”
Mr. Vanterpool was merely trying to play off our naturally suspicious nature. Many would much rather believe such claims and vilify the Brits, than take their side against one of our own. I have no doubt it was done to support his (and Myron's) bid to convince us that (in their opinion) we MUST consider a move towards INDEPENDENCE with urgency.
The whole thing was utter nonsense, but the Governor is too polite to say that in so many words. It was a shameless attempt to garner support for the NDP's future "vision" of a semi-independent BVI, which no doubt would have us much more closely aligned with the Chinese than the British.
Semantics play a very big role in politics and several members of the NDP are excellent at playing word games allowing for plausible deniability in the future. Mark is not one of them. His statements regarding the UK governments threats were, to put it politely, false.
The Governor and buy extension the UK is equally guilty on this public flogging of a civil servant whose only crime was doing his job according to the law. The Governor's office should be the office that provides oversight and provide protection from wrong doing. But the Governor has failed miserably. Can Guy appeal to the Governor and get a fair and unbiased hearing? It does not appear so? Where does Guy go next? Does he go to the Foreign and Commonwewlth Office? Arthur Hodge(1763-1811, member of Legisaltive Council and Legisaltive Assembly, slave owner and planter farmer, was convicted of killing one of his slaves, tried and hang. The only planter class in the West Indies hang for killing a slave. Imagine that a Planter Class being hung for killing a slave.
It must have been above the pale. Well, the abuse of Guy is in the same league and needs to be recorded in the annals of VI history as such. The UK is taking a hands off approach and probably saying let them n......s kill ( not literally) one another other. The Governor needs to do his damn job or else he needs to be relieved for cause. This is a clear cut case of injustice that even the blind can see clearly is wrong. Many may take a see nothing, hear nothing attitude now but tommorow may be you or a relative. This issue wreaks of wrong and needs some sunshine to cleanse it. The local government cannot solve it and it requires shaming the UK government into doing the right thing.This is a clear case of political interference and discrimination that is preventing good governance. Has the UK government fail? Or it is too consume with the Brexit debacle to give a shit about some n.....s out in the colonies? Has it no sense no shame or sense of decency?
Does this ting has a tinge of Upstreet vs Downstreet? This may sound like a stretch but hmmmmmm I know what I know. Mouth open tory jump out. What they say, where there is smoke there is fire and those that pretend that they cannot mash ants are the worse. Guy needs our collective help to right this wrong for all Virgin Islanders, for if this goes like a puff of wind so too will the VI society and someone else will be calling more of the shots-may be.
anyone to think England would do such a thing. Why the Governor himself has to import his crumpets not to
mention his Burberry tweeds and umbrella. BVI is about as British as the BVI.