COMMENTARY: Bad leadership made us a beggar country
Alred Frett
By Alred Frett, Contributor
My last article was a teachable moment for Ms Jane and Mr What. This article returns to our bi-monthly schedule at a time when the prospect of natural and man-made disasters rest heavy on our minds.
The hurricane season is barely a month away government has not started their own recovery, and the state of our economy appears to be under direct threat from inside and outside.
We are now called on to bleat at the claim of UK’s imposed openness in the Financial Services of her territories and there is now desire to enlist the little man on every street corner into attacking the UK on behalf of local politicians.
Somehow these leaders choose to forget that the FATCA regulations they accepted already permit these Financial Records to be available ‘on demand’.
Dirty money and beggars
In addition, we have openly admitted to dealing in dirty money and the hurricanes along with bad leadership have made us a beggar country dependent on handouts from the UK. We have always heard that ‘he who pays the piper calls the tune’ so it would be irrational to make political plans and promises on somebody else’s dime only to blame them when you are unable to deliver.
A few points of clarity is that these governments may immediately comply or have up until 2020 before it will be imposed and a reason why the crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the
The Isle of Man is not included in this ‘Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill Amendment’ is because they fall under a different legislative structure than that of British offshore territories.
No need to create a crisis
Unless our leaders fear exposure of their own financial conniving, there is no need to create a crisis where none exist and formulate a knee-jerk revolution or hopeless acceptance of UK’s demands.
Instead, this may be an opportunity for introspection and meaningful dialogue with the focus on finding sustainable ways and means of ensuring the survival and progress of our people and country.
Sometimes we should talk before we walk: I strongly believe that UK would still prefer a brokered solution than a confrontation – It worked for me.
The hospital
Some of you may still remember that during my time as Minister of Health I met a full-blown agreement between the UK and local politicians where the UK would only refurbish the defunct Peebles Hospital.
You may recall I totally rejected that and lobbied for a new modern hospital.
As usual, I was told my demands were impossible for the deal had been done and I could face lawsuits.
I refused to back down, personally looked for the land to build it and we started the project. However, in my absence, local leaders thought they could kill it so they removed and redirected the budgeted funds and essentially stopped the Project which may have pleased UK.
I never stopped fighting
Nonetheless, I never stopped fighting and you finally understood and lent your voices to the cause which forced them to continue… It was finally completed against their true desire but rather than acknowledge the facts they dragged the name ‘Peebles’ on it until they could find the pluck or excuse to put the name of some politician or do-nothing who had no interest in making this reality.
Please get me straight – I have no desire for the hospital to be named after me. It belongs to the people of the BVI and I have always suggested it be called ‘The BVI public hospital’.
Knife has no place in a gunfight
I am merely using this as an example to show that UK’s decisions are not irrevocable and nothing is impossible with clear vision and people power – Just remember; a butter knife has no place in a gunfight.
Are we for it or against it? Much of the general noise and cry for independence is by persons who often refuse to fight your fight but now call on you to sacrifice for them as they pretend to make racism their new-found excuse.
Is it that hard to recognize these as the same leaders willing to silence me in order to accept and support a colonialist mentality and way of life as being some special gift or privilege for BVIslanders?
Wasting time celebrating Territory Day
Think about it – rather than enact my local heroes and Labour Day they would have us waste time, money and effort celebrating Colony or Territory Day without understanding that we are only an off-Shore Colony because the UK indulged in open racism of white supremacy and Black Inferiority…
We hoped these inconvenient facts would have changed with time but still await the proof.
We need this rectification locally and internationally because the UK as a role model has been an example and excuse for other nations – including America, Australia, Rhodesia, Israel and others who aspire to be feared as superpowers.
In their quest for dominance, their first dedication is to discrimination and racism under the veil of Immigration, Trade and Labour.
Bad behaviour
While all living things may be territorial, humans know that point where bad behaviour becomes offensively unfair.
However, bad leaders count on us accepting this as the norm and see no reason to change if they can wear us down… Case in point.
Although they acknowledge their Labour and Immigration practices as patently wrong and unfair they demand kudos rather than make corrections.
Reaching for Heaven by destroying our home on earth: The irony is that many who now belittle others in the Labour and Immigration Fiasco have non-BVI friends and family. Maybe even children and spouses – who passed through the process but they have conveniently forgotten and unlike Joseph and Moses, they torture their own…
Some make excuses that they are simply doing their jobs as if they would get fired for being kind and considerate.
Religion
Some simply consider themselves so religiously righteous that they feel justified in knowingly mistreating others because all their sins and wickedness will be forgiven and forgotten once they called on some imaginary friend for instant redemption.
This use of religion and God as their personal sword, shield and eraser encourage the worst in persons who should be showing us their best.
However, failure to be accountable stewards of the people’s funds and affairs cannot be solved by open-air prayer competition to call on Jesus for help with our financial woes.
Spectacle of disobedience
This is merely a spectacle of disobedience when he avoided the trappings of money and specifically cautioned gentiles and hypocrites against public prayer.
Besides, God helps those who help themselves.
I suppose saying ‘in God we trust’ provides them with cover for being unwilling or unable to pay their landlords and suppliers while they overpay workers whose sole function appears to be harassment of the public.
They seem not to realize their chain of actions destroys local employers, businesses and the economy. This makes them far more dangerous than the UK.
They may try to shut me down but only you can shut me up.
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No mention of racism until paragraph 18, and then it appears three times in quick succession.
Another stream of nonsense from this man.
AC thanks for continuing these educational pieces. I must disagree with the statement you made that the BVI has “openly admitted to dealing in dirty money”. I have not seen or heard that admission. The BVI does not deal with dirty money. In fact, we have one of the best legislative framework professionals dedicated to forestalling, detecting and reporting money laundering.
As a company incorporation jurisdiction, the vast majority of BVI companies are used to hold property (real estate, bank accounts, securities, intellectual property, etc). The properties held by BVI companies are not here in BVI, rather, they are in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc., where they are registered according to the laws of those lands. For example, a house in London that is held by a BVI company is registered at the land registry, they pay property taxes where applicable and capital gains taxes etc. Moreover, the banks that are handling such transactions are obligated by their local laws to identify the beneficial owners of such companies. This means that at the time monies are transferred to or from a bank account owned by a BVI company the principals and beneficial owners of the company would have been identified and verified by the trust company in BVI and the bank in a foreign jurisdiction.
We need to stop repeating the words and narrative of foreign NGO and misguided persons that are hellbent on cutting the predominantly black nations and territories from benefiting from global trade, investment and movement of monies. The Channel Islands, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Cyprus, New York, Ireland, UAE, USA can benefit but we should not. AC as a strong supporter of the development of Africans I suggest that you look globally at the economic war that has been ongoing over the past eight years. As an player on the international stage of economics and finance that territories cannot be expected to remain untouched. However, like the Haitians of the late 1700s and early 1800s, if we band together with unity of purpose we shall defeat the unfair, immoral, unethical and hypocritical fighters in the so called mother land.
It’s gone well for the Haitians since. I agree Haiti is an instructive example for BVI.
You should be running the country.
Very thought provoking – don’t agree with everything but your posts are always worth reading and then thinking about – interesting points made about the hospital project that took over 14 years to complete…
If you stopped sticking racism into everything you might be worth listening too. As it is you just sound very silly.
The UK has no no interest in suppressing so called “ black businesses” , though in fact all of the Trust Companies in the BVI were set up and are run by Europeans.
The UK has trading partners who object to the tax avoidance they see as facilitated by “ tax shelters “ like BVI. Combine this with a business hating quasi communist , one Margaret Hodge ( an Egyptian btw so hardly English racism ) and a very low government majority and this legislation slipped through against the wishes of the UK government.
It was the Labour Party that did this. Ironically the party that most black UK citizens vote for.
To think that racism is not alive and well and behind the neo-colonial project is naive thinking, head buried in sand thinking and utterly self defeating. Please explain why the USA, which is the other party to the US-UK so called “special relationship” which seeks to maintain hegemony is not being called to account for the tax shelters of NYC, MIA, Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota?
When you get the explanation to this question I assure you that your head will be removed from the sand.
The UK does not legislate for the USA. Or for Singapore or Panama. It does legislate for The BVI. The point is that this is nothing to do with race. It is to do with perceived tax avoidance. Governments hate to think they are losing tax revenue.
The idea that it is some plot by whites to do down blacks is deeply stupid and not helpful to our cause.
Of course the people who benefit from the tax shelter industry in the BVI would rather try and preserve it under this charade of racism…… otherwise the focus may turn to them and their sordid little affairs.
Surely the time has come for BVI News to stop publishing this man’s racist rants.