Queen’s Counsel (QC) and member of the Inner Bar, Mr Gerard St. C. Farara says that for the Virgin Islands (VI) to effectively take on constitutional reform, the approach should be based on where the territory wants to be in the future, both in relation to its national development and its external relationship with the United Kingdom (UK). Photo: Facebook

"Our approach to constitutional reform must start from a position of where we want to take the country in the next fifteen, twenty, twenty-five years and that must tie into a strategic plan for the development of the country that would move the country forward and achieve the kind of changes that would bring us to that kind of a picture of where the country ought to be,” Mr Farara said on the Tuesday, April 29, 2019, edition of the show on ZBVI 780am. Photo: Internet Source

Speaking with host Cromwell Smith aka 'Edju En Ka’ on ‘Honestly Speaking’, on April 29, 2019, Mr Farara said this will only start when policymakers define a national vision for the territory, subject to flexibility, that can speak to every facet of government.

Starting Position

“Our approach to constitutional reform must start from a position of where we want to take the country in the next fifteen, twenty, twenty-five years and that must tie into a strategic plan for the development of the country that would move the country forward and achieve the kind of changes that would bring us to that kind of a picture of where the country ought to be,” he said on the show broadcast on ZBVI 780am.

According to the Queens Council, defining that national vision also means designing a plan that can adjust and change with the times, given the number of unforeseen situations the territory has seen in the past. 

“This is critical, it doesn’t mean that the road map which you set out is cast in concrete, every plan, every map has to be subject to flexibility and adjustments as things change, as certain assumptions change and other extraneous things and other things that were unforeseen impact upon how that plan ought to proceed,” he said.

Host Smith in agreeing, questioned how can the territory move forward if it has not yet discussed or designed a plan for the future.

“That should have been of course our first course of action,” Smith implored, “What is our vision for the Virgin Islands in the future? That has yet to be discussed much less determine. How can we say what we want as a constitution if we ourselves have not discussed our national vision?” he posited.   

Designing a Plan

Mr Farara further revealed that he has been propagating the idea of a national vision and strategic development plan with various VI representatives and leaders for years. This he says, must start with a public discussion on the issue.

“But it has to be a comprehensive plan that speaks to every aspect and facet of governance and government within the country. It ought to be a plan that speaks to every aspect of the country itself whether it be the economy… the social aspect… education, immigration, labour issues etc,” Mr Farara pointed out. 

He said these things are all interrelated and intertwined from a developmental perspective, “rather than adopting a piecemeal approach, where we are actually reacting to things that occur and putting a bandage on that, or putting a fix on that, we ought to have a much broader perspective a much broader vision and hence a much broader plan, that takes the country in relation to that vision where we want it to be in the next fifteen, twenty, twenty-five years."