BVI News

Former Premier to be honoured during govt’s UK visit

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley and former Premier Ralph T O’Neal

Government officials are expected to honour the late former Premier, Honourable Ralph T O’Neal, with a bust at a reception at the BVI London House during their trip to the United Kingdom (UK) this week.

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley led a delegation to London to attend the Annual General Meetings of the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC), which is expected to participate in the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the BVI London House.

“Over the past year, the London Office embarked on a journey of reflection and appreciation, culminating in the final event, the highlight of which will be the unveiling of a commemorative bust, in honour of the first Premier of the Virgin Islands, Honourable Ralph T O’Neal,” Dr Wheatley said recently.

According to the Premier, it was under O’Neal’s leadership that the BVI London House was purchased. That building has served as the location of the BVI London Office since its inception.

“The two are inseparable. Honourable O’Neal’s vision of the Virgin Islands representing itself in the UK, Europe and beyond via our own Representative Office has been fully realised,” the Premier said.

Dr Wheatley added that O’Neal is worthy of recognition in light of the 20th anniversary of the BVI London Office.

In the meantime, Deputy Premier Lorna Smith described O’Neal as a visionary and said he understood the importance of direct representation in London.

She said the London building not only houses the London Office but is also a revenue earner in that one of the four floors is rented to the private sector.

Smith also described the office as a launch pad for going further into the European Union to places such as Brussels. “It would also give us that kind of direct access to… the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office. So, it’s extremely fitting. It’s in a great address in Mayfair. We got it at an excellent price and it continues to do excellent work for us,” Smith added.

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9 Comments

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  1. Don says:

    Vip has built this country

    Like 1
    Dislike 2
    • resident says:

      vip built this country but much of the foundation they laid was not on solid ground. They along with other governments failed to stamp out the culture of corruption that has become endemic to the bvi and which threatens to destroy everything that they have uilt

  2. It Was not Pretty. says:

    The early VIP has some credit to be had, but the late ones after the transition of Mr. Stoutt and others saw a turn away and towards money grabbing corruption beyond recgnition.

    It was not pretty what went down in those years. ASk all the people who lost and or got peanuts for their land. Grand father still bawling in he grave.

  3. Tafari Zharr says:

    Reprinted
    Tafari Zharr
    November 11, 2021 at 12:38 PM

    HON. RALPH T. ONEAL
    Member Emeritus, OBE

    A Requiem, Written for This Day, For This Hour, And That Hour They Inter Him

    By Tafari Zharr.

    [Breathe In]

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    His Days Were Numbered
    Thirty-One Thousand, Three Hundred Seventy- Seven (31,377)
    And You Held on To Him Thirty Days More
    Monday Till Wednesday
    Picture-Perfect, Statesman, Procession:
    Showered with Adulation Three (3) Days
    Before They’d Later [Privately] Inter Him
    Jack, It’s Hard to Believe RTO Is Gone

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    Oh, It’s Up to You Now
    Left to Be Seen What You’ll Do
    With What He Advanced
    Oh, Of Freedoms Be Neither Sleep nor Still
    Oh, Great Man, Groomed to Become More Than an Island
    Oh, Whose Days Are No Longer, And Nights Are No More
    Oh, Whose Profound Legacy—Virgin Islanders: Simply
    He Did It, Get Up, Go, and Grow

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    Oh, Approbations: Left by Him for You
    A Great Blue Print Of Life
    Oh, For His Period, Strong, Reconstruction Efforts, Sing Sweeter, Newer, Lullabies
    Oh, For His Hopes of Economic Equity and Security
    Be Neither Blind nor Distilled
    Oh, For Our Stability and Preservation Make Homes
    Not Houses, Polished, High on Hills

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    Oh, For His Ambitions Traded for Yours
    Oh, For Her Hopes Prorogued for Yours
    Oh, For Their Futures Deferred for Yours
    Oh, For His Promises Fragmented for Yours

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    His Love Has Been Your Affairs
    Oh, For His Aberration for Virgin Gorda
    Oh, For A Romanticism with Tortola
    Oh, For A Proclivity for Anegada
    Oh, For His Political Life, A Sac-ri-fice?

    Oh, Virgin Islanders,

    Oh, But for His Earlier Excitement in The Vicinage
    You Might Never
    You Might Never Have
    You Might Never Have Had
    Your Treasured, Highly Acclaimed, and Colossal Rising Son!

    [Repeat: Breathe In, hold it, Breathe Out].

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    His Days Were Numbered:
    Thirty-One Thousand, Three Hundred Seventy-Seven (31,377)
    And You Held on To Him Thirty (30) Days More
    Monday Till Wednesday
    Picture-Perfect, Statesman, Procession:
    Showered with Adulation Three (3) Days
    Before They’d Later [Privately] Inter Him
    Jack, It’s Hard to Believe RTO Is Gone

    And Alongside Him Came the Turtle Dove Inviting Him Home

    [Breathe Out]:

    All Right Reserved. Copyright © 2019. Tafari Zharr.

  4. Tafari Zharr says:

    Tafari Zharr
    November 11, 2021 at 12:38 PM
    HON. RALPH T. ONEAL
    Member Emeritus, OBE

    A Requiem, Written for This Day, For This Hour, And That Hour They Inter Him

    By Tafari Zharr.

    [Breathe In]

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    His Days Were Numbered
    Thirty-One Thousand, Three Hundred Seventy- Seven (31,377)
    And You Held on To Him Thirty Days More
    Monday Till Wednesday
    Picture-Perfect, Statesman, Procession:
    Showered with Adulation Three (3) Days
    Before They’d Later [Privately] Inter Him
    Jack, It’s Hard to Believe RTO Is Gone

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    Oh, It’s Up to You Now
    Left to Be Seen What You’ll Do
    With What He Advanced
    Oh, Of Freedoms Be Neither Sleep nor Still
    Oh, Great Man, Groomed to Become More Than an Island
    Oh, Whose Days Are No Longer, And Nights Are No More
    Oh, Whose Profound Legacy—Virgin Islanders: Simply
    He Did It, Get Up, Go, and Grow

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    Oh, Approbations: Left by Him for You
    A Great Blue Print Of Life
    Oh, For His Period, Strong, Reconstruction Efforts, Sing Sweeter, Newer, Lullabies
    Oh, For His Hopes of Economic Equity and Security
    Be Neither Blind nor Distilled
    Oh, For Our Stability and Preservation Make Homes
    Not Houses, Polished, High on Hills

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    Oh, For His Ambitions Traded for Yours
    Oh, For Her Hopes Prorogued for Yours
    Oh, For Their Futures Deferred for Yours
    Oh, For His Promises Fragmented for Yours

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    His Love Has Been Your Affairs
    Oh, For His Aberration for Virgin Gorda
    Oh, For A Romanticism with Tortola
    Oh, For A Proclivity for Anegada
    Oh, For His Political Life, A Sac-ri-fice?

    Oh, Virgin Islanders,

    Oh, But for His Earlier Excitement in The Vicinage
    You Might Never
    You Might Never Have
    You Might Never Have Had
    Your Treasured, Highly Acclaimed, and Colossal Rising Son!

    [Repeat: Breathe In, hold it, Breathe Out].

    Oh, Virgin Islanders

    His Days Were Numbered:
    Thirty-One Thousand, Three Hundred Seventy-Seven (31,377)
    And You Held on To Him Thirty (30) Days More
    Monday Till Wednesday
    Picture-Perfect, Statesman, Procession:
    Showered with Adulation Three (3) Days
    Before They’d Later [Privately] Inter Him
    Jack, It’s Hard to Believe RTO Is Gone

    And Alongside Him Came the Turtle Dove Inviting Him Home

    [Breathe Out]:

    All Right Reserved. Copyright © 2019. Tafari Zharr.

    • @Tafari Zharr says:

      I hope they honor him and AG for selling out all that land in VG leaving not even a spoonful of dirt for locals to build a house on allegedly.

      Don’t talk about the racket he and the greedy man from cgb did up Anegada paving Roads in his last tenure as Premier allegdly. But we will continue to lift up those who cast us down and cast down those who want to uplift us.

  5. Open eyes says:

    We continue to Honor these people who helped f..k up this country. But as a black person, I can say it’s one of the biggest problems with the race embracing too much negativity.

  6. Stupes says:

    Natalio is a waste of time.

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