COMMENTARY: BVI a global laughing stock
By Dickson Igwe, Contributor
The British Virgin Islands has become a global laughing stock.
And only a permanent and powerful governance watchdog will prevent future repeats of the present misadventure and travesty that has beset the islands.
In recent days the Virgin Islands has been in the spotlight, especially in the UK Press. And not for great reasons. The latest is links between the government and a colourful and wealthy character from the UK.
Now any resident travelling abroad today will feel a pain in the proverbial gut telling people overseas, he or she is a citizen of the British Virgin Islands. It is the same feeling one gets when stating you are from Nigeria or Haiti, where poor governance is a culture, with devastating economic and social consequences.
People you tell that you are from poorly managed countries such as Venezuela or Afghanistan will look upon you with pity, consternation, and even sadness, in a world striving forward, in terms of culture, society, technology, science, and innovation.
BVI look upon with amusement
The British Virgin Islands is looked upon with amusement, and even some derision today, when compared with Caribbean neighbours. The simple reality is that the present generation has totally dropped the ball socially and economically. And the future generation appears unprepared for taking over the governance and economy of the island.
The country is looking like a comic book to the international community. The reason for this poor reputation is a very bad press internationally, feeding upon the country’s governance woes.
The latest example of bad press is the allegation that the British Virgin Islands Government plans to spend up to $5m on a high flying UK lawyer and politician, a Member of the UK Parliament, who according to the UK Guardian, attempts to turn the inquiry “from an examination of corruption and misgovernment, into an examination of near- colonialist conduct by Ex-Governor Augustus Jaspert”.
Bad press
The UK Lawyer appears to be paid thousands of dollars an hour, from BVI taxpayer cash, in a country that cannot fix its schools, roads, and the most basic infrastructure.
And this bad press has been a feature of the country’s international reputation for years, with words such as dodgy, corrupt, illegitimate, opaque, and illegal, used to derogate the country by specific journalists and newspapers, especially UK news media.
On the other hand, neighbouring Caribbean islands plough ahead to a greater future, with better social and physical infrastructure, far better governance, even establishing direct travel links with foreign capitals in the USA, Europe, and Asia; while the BVI chases a BVI Airways, that appears to have flown to the moon, and doles out taxpayer cash to people, based upon their connections with politicians.
Roads are the same as they were 30 years ago
Thirty years of self-governance and self-autonomy, and the most infrastructure development to show has been the building of churches on every street corner for the business called religion. Roads are the same as they were 30 years ago.
Then the country after spending millions continues to suffer water woes. Albeit there has been some infrastructure improvement: a state of the art Pier Park, a decent regional airport, and a large fully air-conditioned hospital facility. However, the country should be much further ahead. Foreign investors who rule the global economy will probably prefer to park their cash in the Caymans, Turks and Caicos, and even Anguilla, these days, as these countries have their politicians reined in. How did the Virgin Islands get to this sad place?
Change the sorry trajectory of governance locally
Well, instead of throwing the wool over resident’s eyes with silly assertions, and pontificating on colonialism and racism, and driving up the hatred of migrants and foreigners, the country’s leaders should do everything to change the sorry trajectory of governance in the land, and turn the country’s tailwind receive a tail wind towards a far better future. But that takes competence, vision, and savvy, which is nowhere to be found, apart from the savvy to spend taxpayer cash foolishly.
The tragedy of the Sir Geoffrey Cox affair is that it reads like the type of sleaze and unethical behaviour found in a John Le Carre’ spy thriller. A top UK politician and lawyer defending allegedly crooked officials on a Caribbean Island.
Traumatised
And in a land horribly traumatised by allegations of criminal misconduct and criminal conspiracies at the very highest levels of government, and a Commission of Inquiry that appears to most residents of the Virgin Islands to be the last hope for the tiny country’s welfare, security, and safety, the appearance of a jet setting millionaire, UK high official, politician and lawyer, with vast tentacles and deep links to the top of UK government and society, throws a fog over the Inquiry, and further worsens public cynicism and doubt, that the outcome of the Commission of Inquiry will be fair and just, driving a change towards good governance for the Virgin Islands.
The hire of this wealthy, Conservative Party Grandee, over and above thousands of extremely competent Caribbean lawyers, smacks of the type of executive impunity the Commission of Inquiry was appointed to stop.
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I don’t usually agree with you but this piece is completely true. Many folks want the UK to take over and stop the madness.
The British ARE coming.
Thank them when they arrive and tell our politicians good bye
Now that you’re awake what you goin to do?
P.S. Everything you write feels more cogent by omitting “this old boy”
Great feedback, a small but significant stylistic point
you may have stepped in an ants nest ,for telling it like it is nuff respect bro ?
respect
The country is not being run properly…Bottom line
Man I wish you was a calypsonian
You will make a good consultant…Andrew wont listen to you.. You have to say what he wants to hear…But I will admit you are talking sense…
The last person a radio personality who tried to warn them was ridiculed and treated most unjustly and wicked. Sorry that they will now pay the price for their wicked and foolish ways. Their conscience
has been seared according to the scriptures as with a hot iron. Their only solution is all about generating money. No morals are involved only the calling of the name of their fake Jesus. But this begs the question…who responsible but don’t give a damn.
Are you more interested being seen with your photo or in telling a story? We can definitely do without the poto.
This is so silly. Igwe mentions and quotes only UK sources but claims that the BVI is a global laughing stock without providing any sources other than from the UK. He repeatedly mentions stuff like especially in the UK but never mentions anywhere else where the BVI is being a “laughing stock” Someone should teach Igwe that global means worldwide. The subject should have focused strictly on the UK as his entire article is based on how the UK media views the BVI. That itself is another issue as the UK has an ulterior motive. For years the UK have tried to cancel BVI’s main revenue source; financial services. The The UK was instrumental in bringing the COI and the coverage is one sided. Igwe keeps quoting and name dropping UK sources but what he fails to acknowledge is the UK also has their very own scandals and issues that are brought up daily by the same sources such as the Guardian.
This is a quote from the UK Prime Minister just last week after he led efforts to change parliamentary conflict-of-interest rules to protect a colleague threatened with suspension “the UK is not remotely a corrupt country” The UK is a bunch of hypocrites and it’s too bad our people have tunnel vision and cant see past their own nose. The UK isn’t here to save us. They chose prisons and police as their portfolio instead of education that alone says it all.
See thats the problem. The UK being corrupt has nothing to do with what is happenning in the BVI. Like it or not the BVI is a UK dependent Territory and that is the bottom line. The UK doesnt answer to us. Its like a child telling a parent dont punish them or correct them because they do wrong as well. The BVI should have been much farther ahead with all the money made and spent. That is not the UK’s fault.
The guy said we are a global laughing stock while quoting only UK articles that alone puts a huge blow to his argument. I only quoted the UK’s corruption to show their hypocrisy.
There are many other articles circulating in Europe, Australia and the USA regarding the BVI corruption index. The contributor although focusing his interest only on UK articles, it’s important to note that these media outlets have a global reach/audience.
Well said
What did we choose over education and infrastructure and good governance? We need a Turks and Caicos intervention to help us fix this and guaranteed no other political government would want this type of inquiry again and so they would tow the line properly. The majority have had enough of how the tax payers purse have been treated.
More waste of taxpayers money. Fattening the bank account of a rich British man – the hypocrisy; while many of us can barely feed our children.
OF course the UK have scandals too. Does that means that because they have we don’t have. Or does it means because they have scandals, its ok for us to have. Forget about the UK and deals with our many scandals right here in the BVI. We don’t have to follow the same lead as them. It not like first time when you writes an article in the Beacon or the Island sun and it is just us that are reading it.
Yes it was in the UK Media but this is the internet age, people can sit in their bedroom and read any thing from anywhere.
@GTFOH
Please go Sid dung. You blog under different names on the bias yellow and black website and here you are doing the same. Point in case is that this article speaks directly to what is happening in the BVI and one only has to be blind or in denial to not see what is going on. The argument about the UK in comparison to the BVI is baseless in many regards. Your emphasis should be placed on good governance and solutions to the existing problems that’s the bottom line; no further argument is needed. It’s time to move the country in the right direction and avoid all this negative publicity.
I like you as much as you liked me, and bredda you telling the truth. Wake up and smell the roses people before it is too late.
With one foot pointing east and one pointing west, how can you move forward Mr.?