Governance reform shows maturity, says Premier

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has suggested that recent governance reforms demonstrate the BVI’s maturity and readiness for greater autonomy.

During a recent GIS interview, Dr Wheatley emphasised that the reforms, born out of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) process, demonstrate the territory’s ability to govern responsibly.

Dr Wheatley acknowledged that the reform process has been “a long and hard journey” involving the passage of numerous laws and policies. He expressed satisfaction with the progress made, stating, “It’s always satisfying to be able to get to a point where you can accomplish completion of at least the phases that we’ve completed.”

The reforms address significant areas such as how Crown land and public assistance grants are issued and the processes surrounding immigration status and statutory boards. “All of these things are massively important to show that you have the maturity to be able to govern yourselves,” Dr Wheatley explained.

He added that the reforms are crucial as the territory approaches constitutional negotiations and pointed out that demonstrating good governance is essential not only for the United Kingdom and international partners but also for the people of the Virgin Islands. “We want to demonstrate not only to the United Kingdom, not only to all of our supporters and partners across the world but to ourselves that we can govern ourselves in a responsible way,” he remarked.

According to the Premier, “We can demonstrate to the people of the Virgin Islands that we’re serious about being a model democracy… that persons don’t have anything to fear because, of course, we have the systems, the checks and balances in place to ensure that we’re governed well.”

Dr Wheatley highlighted the hard work involved in implementing the reforms.

“We’ve finished most of the legislative work and now we’re starting the implementation, the education, and the mainstreaming of the governance reform into the public service,” he said.

The Premier also praised the contributions of the opposition during the committee stages of bills, describing their input as constructive. “The opposition helped us to get better bills. We utilised the collective knowledge and experience of everyone in the room and we worked as a team,” he noted.