BVI struggle not yet over — Premier
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has contended that the Virgin Islands’ struggle for autonomy is far from complete, even as he implored residents and elected leaders alike to adopt a spirit of togetherness and to put their differences aside during Virgin Islands Day celebrations.
“We had a general election. Our House of Assembly and ministerial system of government are still functioning. Our struggle is not over yet. But we are in a better place than we were over a year ago,” Dr Wheatley said in a statement recently.
Premier Wheatley encouraged the people of the BVI to be thankful to God they were able to arrive at another Virgin Islands Day with the constitution intact.
According to the Premier, residents are now in a better place than they were when the United Kingdom’s threat of direct rule weighed heavily and forced elected leaders to assemble a ‘government of national unity’.
“This is a time for us to come together and put political and other differences aside for the greater good of this country that we love,” the Premier said.
He urged residents to reflect on the Virgin Islands’ historical journey and to examine how far its people have come.
But even as he urged a spirit of reflection, Dr Wheatley also said Virgin Islanders should recognise and appreciate their uniqueness and become conscious of their identity.
“As we continue along our journey, and when we get to our destination, many things will change but we must still be recognisable as Virgin Islands people, and our story and our special identity must live on,” the Premier said.
He further commented that the territory’s culture and heritage are very critical elements of the process.
In this regard, Dr Wheatley said his government has ensured it developed and approved a Virgin Islands Culture & Heritage Policy and Strategy.
According to the Premier, this will ensure attention and resources are directed towards the preservation of the territory’s culture and heritage and the development of its cultural and heritage assets.
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“This is a time for us to come together and put political and other differences aside for the greater good of this country that we love,”————————————————–
LOL. This country has a long way to go to overcome what ever struggles it has. The Premier cannot be serious calling for us to come together when he is actively going about trying to divide us more in more ways than one inclusive of his propose referendum.
We cannot come together under divisive circumstances whereby the government sees some citizens differently and not equal under the law. Never.
Is that greater good inclusive of denying rights to those whose sexual identity is different than theirs? It appears that way. That’s a non-starter.
If he believes the VI continues to be “bombarded by forces from all direction”, then he has not seen anything yet.
His divisive path for political gain will guarantee him one thing: guaranteed further bombardment over his term in office.
Every action has a reaction. You put out bad out there, you get a bad reaction; you put out good out there, you get a good reaction. The choice is yours.
He got to be our punishment mhesson. I cant say we dont deserve it cause clearly we aint had enough licks yet cause we put VIP right back in.
My God you are so full of $hit, while further deceiving yourself with your own delusions of grandeur!
Just because the ‘rock’ is off of last year’s proverbial bottom don’t mean you are even close to achieving anything of substance. Compared to where we were years ago, and where we are now, you are no different than that ill-fated Titanic sub heading for implosion!
Delilah frig this country by making this dude Premier again
Really, what in h**l is Natalio talking about ?
What a load of rubbish…BVI’s struggle with autonomy…..puhleeze. The notion of independence gained some traction when CoI reporrt came out and we did not like the resuts. If the BVIs is serious about autonmy, then Mr. Wheatley would be better served fixing roads and schools, providing decent access to potable water, dealing with waste management, and getting rid of the narcos. If there is anything that the BVI struggles with is it’s learning from its mistakes.
That pic looks like one of the sloths in Zootopia. Slow same way. Must be cousins.
We have self absorbed , power hungry Lorna for giving us back this awful Premier. She wanted to shine in the midst of the dull lights so she switched sides. It will come back to haunt her backside very soon.
The BVI’s struggle to find out what happened to the billions of Government revenue paid in since the 1980s, is not over.
Look around!
We have had enough autonomy to squander billions over the years that the country has nothing to show for though. What more autonomy you want than that without being independent?
Independence ! We too can look like Haiti. That’s exactly where we would go with the cronies we have now.
This so call premier I don’t know were you is sure bit anit tola you talk you l** you give tola away also your not open to the people I don’t know who spirit you listening to, You have gospel concert then after worldly concert stop leading the nation to hell people put you there to fix things but you giving all away wow!!!!!!!
Still More to come from you we waiting.