2021 July—BVI News

Third District Representative Julian Fraser who has been a legislator for more than two decades.

Fraser denies conflict of interest in brothers’ role in SCB project

Third District Representative Julian Fraser has completely denied claims of any conflict of interest regarding his brothers’ involvement in a project in his Sea Cows Bay constituency while he was a serving government minister. Fraser, the then Minister of Communication […]

by Davion / on July 15, 2021 at 8:49 AM /

The Ralph T. O'Neal Administration Complex where the main government offices are located.

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4-year gap to form Audit Advisory Committee raises questions

No plausible explanation has been produced for a mysterious four-year gap in the formation of an Internal Audit Advisory Committee (IAAC) in the territory. The government’s Internal Auditor had raised the issue of an absent IAAC when she appeared before […]

by Davion / on July 15, 2021 at 7:50 AM /

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BVI reports 5th and 6th COVID related deaths

The following is a media release form the Ministry of Health dated Wednesday, July 14. The Ministry of Health and Social Development is confirming the passing of one more person overnight and one today, bringing the total number of COVID-related […]

by Davion / on July 15, 2021 at 7:00 AM /

Neil Smith is a former Financial Secretary under the previous NDP government.

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BVI Airways partners were decent people — Former FS Neil Smith

Former Financial Secretary (FS) Neil Smith said he was convinced the BVI’s investment partners in the planned BVI Airways initiative were decent people. This conviction likely helped to pave the way for his nod of approval to former Premier Dr […]

by Davion / on July 15, 2021 at 6:55 AM /

It is no secret that time is running out, and those with ears to hear, should listen and those with eyes to see, should look, because the day will come when who refuses to see will fall and who refuses to hear, will feel.

Some seniors still ask not to exclude them when I speak but, fact is, I have never excluded them. They may choose to reject the message but I have done nothing to block or hinder their access.

All BVIslanders, who were lucky enough to progressed academically from colonial illiteracy to freedom and higher education, should appreciate the innate responsibility to fight against all forms of regression because we did not survive by accident.

It was by conquering ignorance, that we overcame the most effective tool ever employed by the rich & powerful to keep our ancestors and descendants in slavery.

The battles were long and hard and we may have lost many but we won enough to bring us this far. However, it’s not over, because there is a resurgence by slave masters’ descendants and bad leaders who share the sole objective that the brutality of slavery remains unknown. They fear reality, so they count on the belief that persons without knowledge of their past, will never plan or prepare for the future.

Their fallback solution is to use the tried & proven method of forcing us to lose the ability & interest in reading & reasoning for ourselves; especially, when we were just beginning to learn our history... This is no accident – they are totally convinced that by blocking access to real facts in our Public Schools, we would lose interest and settle for following wherever the forces of TikTok and the loudest voices lead.

This is exactly what happened during slavery where Master’s success totally depended on keeping us in fear and ignorance, so that even after Emancipation, this continued in various forms... Consequently, we can name the latest models or beauty queens, but we know nothing about the Wickham’s Cay Palm Grove Shopping Centre or Rev Isaac Simmons being brutally murdered for his property in March 1944.

Ironically, the one thing Blacks were not blocked from doing was preaching because they were seen as Useful Idiots who would carry out Master’s plan of Slave misleading Slave, in the ignorance of reality... Indeed, we could hardly speak our own languages but they would preach to us in Latin and we would profess to confess & be blessed... They saw our gullibility, so they are back, or, maybe they never left.

Falling from Graces, and, UK Strikes in High Places:
Not all Slaves are in chains - Masters still mentally enslave our brothers & sisters to the point of making them traitors to their own cause... Subsequently, Judge Clarence Thomas, Blacks for Trump and Black Officers who victimized Tyre Nichols, show the ease with which Freed Africans still practice slave injustices on one another... We are still programmed to self-defeat, and, we still go along to get along.

No wonder you are annoyed with me for speaking Truth to power and refusing to be fooled... After all - It’s not complicated – it’s just that we refuse to ask simple questions like: If Government claims they saved us and solved all our problems by creating their New Unity Government, then, why would they reverse the process by splitting up, and fighting each other to see who can be the UK’s best puppets.

Nothing has changed between the UK, the COI or the BVI except that UK’s woes have intensified... She once was an industrial super power that led the World for centuries, was regarded as invincible, and had a government and monarchy of impeccable status... This was all on the surface because the Politicians weren’t so hot and the Kings and Queens had no real power – They were just figureheads.

The Queen may have been one of the highest appreciated but she is gone, and although her departure may not have caused the problems, it appears to have hastened them... Commonwealth Countries have stepped up their talk of reducing their association from the UK and Monarchy at a time when, the IMF and other indicators are already signaling a steep decline in the UK’s and US’s finances and morality.

You may recall years ago, I cautioned about defects in UK’s NHS and our political NHI; both systems are now in deep trouble and while they appear similar, there are significant differences... UK’s NHS performs as a Tax Collector, Social Manager, Health Services Provider and Pay Master; our NHI focuses on Tax Collection, delayed Payments, and habitually blame others for their own failings.

On the road to their inefficiencies, they have made these Countries and their People so dependent on them, that it’s, damned if they do and damned if they don’t... Thus, while UK’s Providers claim to be underpaid, our own NHI encourages the Public to believe that her Providers are being overpaid, when in reality, the Truth is, that for years, NHI, has owed these Providers for between 3 to 6 months at a time.

When bad rulings lead to worse ruins:
Meanwhile, poor Patients are still forced to pay NHI contributions on time or they are denied access to Services... Wanting more money is a real & painful national pastime but it is a reality that must be faced head-on in order to reach solutions... The UK is fully aware of this and she knew that suspending our Constitution, would have forced her to add these costs to her existing problems and responsibilities.

While it is easy to empathize, nothing has really changed - Money doesn’t grow on trees and with both UK and BVI broke, it is fraudulent for NHS and NHI to take the People’s Money and not deliver Services to protect the lives of these People... However, it is unfortunate that NHS Strikers placed themselves in a quandary, where, instead of getting increased wages, they are losing Monies they may never recover.

With the World heading for a Financial Crises as China started collecting Gold instead of Dollars, their continued strikes could easily turn the UK into a beggar nation... Furthermore, this is quickly becoming a no-win situation, for, if Prime minister Sunak tries to keep his job by bowing to their demands, he is likely to lose it all in the end, and go down in history as just another failed United Kingdom Prime minister.

In our darkest days and worst of times we have been programmed to exist on hope, so we swear that, our turn must come, because where there is life there is hope... Even if we are right in believing that good things come to those who wait, we should also be concerned that, if we spend all our time & effort, waiting & begging, then we are more likely to receive the trickle-down rejects that no one else wants.

This is no crucifixion; we all make mistakes and I am certainly not innocent... We were hopeful, and I voted for three of the Politicians now in Office - This essentially means that I voted for their leaders... However, as we look, listen and learn about our present dilemma, we should recognize the gravity of the situation as we share the same thoughts, asked the same questions and seek the same solutions.

UK is toying with us, and as her Puppets do their dance, rest assured that laws are being made to rule and not to govern... The Election Viruses in the Air belong to her, and as much as we think we know, they know even more... We serve them best by denying facts, pretending wrongs will heal themselves, and believing that sewerage runs up-hill... Beware, lest the Night you think you win, is the Day you lose.

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COMMENTARY: We must not help COVID-19 kill us

By Alred Frett, Contributor Many are quick to take credit for good but no one takes accountability for bad. A week ago, all wanted to be praised as gods for ‘protecting us from COVID-19’. Today, it’s everyone else’s fault that […]

by Davion / on July 15, 2021 at 6:09 AM /

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Governor extends COI by six months!

Governor John Rankin has given Sir Gary Hickinbottom an additional six months to conduct his Commission of Inquiry (COI) and produce a report. This decision follows a June 2 request to Governor Rankin from Sir Gary asking for an extension. […]

by Davion / on July 14, 2021 at 12:30 PM /

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Gov’t was over-ambitious in stimulus distribution — FS

Financial Secretary, Jeremiah Frett has characterised as madness, the situation within the government when it sought to distribute COVID-19 stimulus packages during a territory-wide lockdown last year. Speaking at a hearing before the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Tuesday, Frett […]

by Davion / on July 14, 2021 at 9:38 AM /

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CSC mulls calling another gangster’s summit as COVID surge mobs BVI

Talk show host, Pastor Claude Skelton Cline yesterday said he might have to call yet another ‘gangster’s summit’ in the BVI to discourage illegal border entries. Illegal entry is suspected by some as a key contributing factor to the massive COVID-19 […]

by Davion / on July 14, 2021 at 8:09 AM /

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$247K to furnish Finance Ministry

The government has awarded a contract valuing just under a quarter-million dollars to furnish the Ministry of Finance’s offices located at RFG Place on Waterfront Drive in Road Town. This $247,871.7 contract was awarded to Island Services (BVI) Ltd. Cabinet […]

by Davion / on July 14, 2021 at 7:24 AM /

The BVI and UK flags mounted at the RT O'Neal Administration Complex in Road Town are being flown half mast as the BVI observes a period of mourning.

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COVID surge affects operations of 5 more gov’t departments

Five additional government departments have adjusted their operating hours, with some only offering remote services because of the concerning uptick in COVID-19 cases. These departments are the Civil Registry & Passport Office, the Virgin Islands Shipping Registry, Town & Country […]

by Davion / on July 14, 2021 at 7:04 AM /