Gov’t ready to meet responsibilities under White Paper
GIS - Saturday, August 4th, 2012 at 10:59 AM
Premier Smith
Friday, August 3 – The Government of the Virgin Islands is committed to enhancing its relationship with the United Kingdom and welcomes further partnership as proposed by the White Paper.
To that end, Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE wrote in his official message for the BVI Art and Culture Show and Territory Day Reception in London, “My Government is fully aware of our obligations as a Territory and we stand ready to meet our responsibilities under the new partnership.”
In delivering his keynote address at the London art show on July 24, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons and Chairman of Ways and Means Mr. Lindsay Hoyle, MP, also spoke of a new partnership, stating, “It is time for a grown up relationship between the United Kingdom and British Virgin Islands. The Overseas Territories should determine their own future and not have it imposed by Britain.”
The BVI Art and Culture Show and Territory Day Reception is hosted by the BVI London Office every year since 2004 in commemoration of Territory Day.
The Territory’s status changed from being a Presidency of the Leeward Islands Colony to an individual colony under the United Kingdom (UK) on July 1, 1956.
Speaking to the status change, Premier Smith wrote: “This milestone was a significant step in the BVI’s constitutional advancement that paved the way for greater internal self-government.”
The Annual BVI Art and Culture Show and Territory Day Reception attracted a wide spectrum of guests including UK Government officials, Members of the House of Commons, High Commissioners, financial industry representatives, BVI residents and students in London, Hertfordshire County officials and many others.
The event is in line with Government’s mandate to offer local artists exposure via the BVI House, in addition to the enhancement and promotion of local arts and cultural expressions.
The Government of the Virgin Islands is committed to further developing a modern partnership between the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories.
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dr smith lapped his tail from day one
” THE OVERSEAS TERRITORIES SHOULD DETERMINE THEIR OWN FUTURE, AND NOT HAVE IT IMPOSED BY BRITAIN”, Mr. Lindsay Hoyle MP, DEPUTY SPEAKER of the HOUSE OF COMMONS, and Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
HIP HIP HIP ……………HOORAY!!!!!
At last, At last, a New Day is dawning, or so it appears, that a more mature relationship is evolving, between the OT’s and the UK.
This is evidenced by the remarks above, by the Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, Mr.Lindsay Hoyle, MP.
Evidently, this is a determination that would be further elaborated in the White Paper…..but at this moment, we have no real knowledge as to what is in store, and we should.
Is UK able to acknowledge our own maturity even before we ourselves do?
Or, offer an acknowledgement of it, before we even we dare express the rights and privileges of those rights of passage?
Regrettably, we are only as good or as worthy as others say we are, and never as good or as worthy as our own intrinsic selves tell us.
That is one of the miserable legacies of colonialism and a subject people, where self-confidence is stifled as a corrosive instrument of control.
No wonder our lyricists in the popular vernacular, sing of the bondage of ‘mental slavery’.
ARISE BVI TAKE UP THY BED AND WALK. HELP IS ON THE WAY. AMEN
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