Gov’t should redirect $100M loan to profitable projects — Skelton Cline

Commentator Claude Skelton Cline has suggested that the government should reconsider how it spends its recently secured $100 million loan facility, arguing that more of the funds should be directed toward revenue-generating projects rather than infrastructure that does not generate income.

Skelton Cline said on his Honestly Speaking radio programme that projects such as ports, airports and seaport facilities could provide a financial return that would help the territory repay the borrowed funds.

“Maybe government, maybe people of the Virgin Islands, we need to repurpose some of the funding for this loan to invest in entities that are revenue generating, such as our ports, airports, western seaport — things that’s going to make money back for us,” Skelton Cline stated.

The commentator acknowledged that roads and other public infrastructure remain important needs in the territory but questioned whether they should receive priority funding from borrowed money during a period of economic uncertainty.

“You take, for example, roads. Now, God knows we’ve been complaining about roads, and we need better roads, and the roads need fixing. But roads don’t produce no money. Roads don’t give you no revenue,” Skelton Cline argued.

He added: “How are we going to pay these loans back if we put all the $100 million in places and spaces that are not revenue-generating?”

The government secured a $100 million loan from CIBC Caribbean in 2024 to finance several public infrastructure projects across the territory. Officials said the funding would support road repairs, water infrastructure, public buildings and other development works.

However, Skelton Cline warned that the Virgin Islands faces growing economic pressures from rising fuel costs, import dependency and global instability, making it critical for the territory to prioritise investments capable of generating income.

“I’m not saying that what you’re doing is bad,” he said. “I’m saying we are living in a time where we have to be nimble enough to recalibrate, rethink, remap what we’re doing, else we’re not going to end up in a good place.”

Skelton Cline also argued that the United Kingdom’s oversight of the territory continued to limit the Virgin Islands’ ability to make economic decisions independently. He claimed the territory was being “stymied and stagnated” through bureaucracy and called for a reassessment of the relationship with the UK.

He further warned that if the territory failed to carefully manage its finances, the UK could cite “contingent liability” concerns as justification for increased intervention in local affairs.