All News—BVI News

PHOTOS: Pulsating performances mark festival’s Int’l Reggae Night

Dancehall sensation Keymar Ottey, better known by his stage name, Ding Dong, punctuated a night of exhilarating performances for the International Reggae Night edition of the Bernard ‘Yampie’ Nibbs Festiville. Ding Dong’s performance concluded just before a downpour sent patrons […]

by Davion / on August 3, 2022 at 10:19 AM /

Scenes from the August Tuesday Races held at the Ellis Thomas Downs in Sea Cows Bay. (Photos by Andre 'Shadow' Dawson)

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COME ON VENEZUELA wins feature event at August Tuesday Races

With the feature race of the annual August Tuesday Races a USVI versus BVI affair, it was the St Thomas-based COME ON VENEZUELA who emerged victorious inside the Ellis Thomas Downs in Sea Cow’s Bay, Tortola. In an unforgettable debut, […]

by Davion / on August 3, 2022 at 8:12 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: Time to stop blaming Andrew!

By Alred Frett, Contributor Year after year we held Emancipation celebrations until the ‘God of Nature and Laws of Balance’ had enough of the hypocrisy and stopped it through floods and a pandemic. Still, we have not improved or seemed […]

by Davion / on August 2, 2022 at 9:57 AM /

Scenes from the 2022 August Monday Parade.

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PHOTOS: Big turnout for the return of August Monday Parade

Roughly two dozen troupes turned up at the Road Reef Marina parking lot to participate in the August Monday Parade in Road Town. The streets were also lined with patrons excited to see the colourful costumes and the procession of […]

by Davion / on August 2, 2022 at 8:13 AM /

The Althea Scatliffe Primary School in Road Town. (BVI News photo)

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ASPS pupils to be dispersed to multiple alternative schools

Students of the Althea Scatliffe Primary School (ASPS) are now expected to be split among multiple school campuses for the coming school year, Education Minister Sharie De Castro announced recently. A structural analysis of the school compound conducted in June […]

by Davion / on August 2, 2022 at 7:29 AM /

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AG finalising draft document for jury pool expansion

An initiative that may see the territory’s jury pool expanded to include non-nationals living in the BVI for less than ten years has already begun, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley announced recently. The move, which formed part of the Commission of […]

by Davion / on August 2, 2022 at 7:16 AM /

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PHOTOS: Hundreds turn out for Rise & Shine Tramp after hiatus

Hundreds of persons thronged the streets of Road Town this morning to signal an emphatic return of the BVI’s annual Rise & Shine Tramp, an event kept firmly at bay for the past two years by the rapid spread and […]

by Davion / on August 1, 2022 at 9:43 AM /

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Premier draws on shared heritage in Emancipation message

Commonalities among Caribbean nationals and the shared legacy of those enslaved during the trans-Atlantic slave trade were just some of the themes underscored by Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley in his message at the traditional Sunday Morning Well Service yesterday, July […]

by Davion / on August 1, 2022 at 8:38 AM /

Mr Miss Junior BVI 2022 Kwame Prince and Angelique Lettsome and the 2022 prince and Princess, Ryson Adams and Lorrisa-Anya King. (BVI News Photos)

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Mr & Miss Junior BVI and Prince & Princess for 2022 crowned

Four young royalties were crowned inside the Eileene Parsons Auditorium at H Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) on Sunday when the Prince & Princess Show and the Mr & Miss Junior BVI pageant were held. Kwame Prince and Angelique Lettsome […]

by Davion / on July 31, 2022 at 10:06 PM /

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PHOTOS: Ramon G successfully defends his Soca Monarch title

Ramon G, who first won in 2019, has defended his Soca Monarch title and walked away with a cash prize of $5,000. His performance of ‘Mass Intentions’ earned him a total of 279 points to win. Meanwhile, entertainer Pascal won […]

by Davion / on July 31, 2022 at 12:09 AM /