JVD still unaware as Premier fails to give promised answers
Residents of the Jost Van Dyke community remain in the dark regarding the future of their livelihood after critical questions which Premier Andrew Fahie had promised to address in Monday’s speech were left unanswered.
During last Thursday’s community meeting with elected members of the government, residents of the sister island asked several questions to gain clarity on a way forward.
While some of the questions were answered during the meeting, others were deferred by the Premier, who said he did not want to preempt his speech which was scheduled for Monday, October 26.
But during the October 28 Opposition’s media briefing two days later, Jost Van Dyke representative, Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull said residents are still clueless about their next step since the questions for which they were anticipating a response are yet to be answered.
“There is nothing happening on Jost Van Dyke now in terms of work, in terms of persons being able to earn income. We were told to wait for Monday and Monday came and absolutely not one question that they were told to wait for Monday was answered on Monday. I saw that the people took them (government) to task on social media and then they came back last night. So I was hoping that maybe something would come out on Tuesday, and yet again nothing.”
“Up to last night (Tuesday), the Premier did not announce which ports because that was a question that was asked in Jost Van Dyke — ‘which ports are going to be opened’? And you still haven’t heard which ports are going to be, so everything is almost like an element of surprise,” he added.
I am angered
Turnbull said the manner in which the Premier is handling the territory’s affairs has gotten to the stage where he has become fed up with what he is seeing.
“I am disappointed to the point of becoming angry because the entire government travelled to Jost Van Dyke after seven or eight months to give them an update, give them a preview of what was to come in terms of them being out of work [for] almost nine months … What angers me is there has not been any identification, any articulation on what’s going to happen seven days from December 1st,” her argued.
Where are the conversations?
The Opposition legislator added that while he hopes another media conference is held to address the December 8 reopening date for the marine sector, he is concerned with the inadequate communication between the government and the sister island’s tourism stakeholders, thus far.
“There is a BVI Tourist Board desk in the United States Virgin Islands. There are the stakeholders on the island of Jost Van Dyke — hoteliers, the villa owners, the restaurants — that have shared their concerns. They have all called into the various tourism meetings — the boaters meetings, the hotel meetings — and every last one of them that I have spoken to has said they have not gotten a clear understanding as to what is going to happen, how are they going to survive if they’re making it difficult for people to come,” Turnbull stated.
We are not fools!
He further said neither he nor his constituents will continue to be fooled by the false promises made by the government.
“I want to say to this government on behalf of the people of Jost Van Dyke and on behalf of the people of this territory that we are not fools and we will not be taken for fools. Don’t insult our intelligence and just continue to talk and do the endless chatter and hope that we forget what you have been saying.”
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Shake my head… they still not voting you back into power Mitch. You are a waste of a back bench. I often wonder why the hell they elected you anyway? Did the people of the second really thought you were the answer to their prayers? Struuppesss .
speak for yourself
I believe that we are being very unfair to the VIP government. The VIP during the election campaign did not give any clear plans to us. They entertained us every night with singing and wuking up. They released a cut and paste manifesto two days before election which they knew we would not read. In other words, they did not lay out any plans for the country for us. So how do we expect them to have a plan now? They didn’t lie to us. They showed us who they were. How can we now get mad at them for not being prepared. Who crazy? Us or the VIP?
They have no plans or ideas. Just rehashing and pushing everything that was there when they came to power without rhyme or reason. As Lavity used to always say…where there is no Vision….
@Think about it, full agreement here. With 8 years in the opposition one would have thought the then VIP opposition, with hopes for governing, would have come forward with substantive plans for moving the country forward. Instead, the only thing remembered is the promise of “1000 jobs in 1000 days”. Instead we got rush passage of Marijuana growing law, 7% tax on money exported, gambling law passage, last minute investment in fishing and agriculture. Yes, the Corona pandemic was, still is and likely to continue to be a major challenge to lives and economies around the world; especially Tourism economies. With tourism being BVIs bread n butter economy, bringing together the various stakeholders (Hotel and Commerce, the yachting sector, hotels and villas, taxi associations etc) should have been meeting and planning for the past few months for the safe, orderly and workable reopening if the territory. But its now appearing that these harsh and unworkable reopening protocols seem to be from rather recent meetings and discussions. May God continue to Bless these Virgin Islands.
keep the heat under them mitch….keep the fire burning
Maybe if the Government members stop getting pay for 3 months, they will see things clearer and have a better understanding of whats going on, what the people are going through…Collecting their big monthly salary they blinded and deaf, they dont have a clue,,,
A possible solution for JVD is to secede from the BVI and join the USVI. Then their beaches, bars, restaurants and villas will be booming with lots of day trip and overnight tourists.
@Secession, We should start thinking about that. JVD will be in a much better position if they join the USVI.
Hey Foxy, get Trump on the line and let’s get this deal done! Let’s Make Jost Van Dyke Great Again!
Totally agree! JVD MUST TAKE A STAND!!!
Mitch the snitch. Mitch smurf leading you down a rabbit whole and in turn he is someone else’s puppeteer.
How DARE anyone mick Mitch!! Shame on you! Mitch has advocated tirelessly for JVD. We, here on JVD, are SICK AND TIRED of being lied to!!!! Promises have never been kept and now they patch a small piece of road to the ferry and think that will appease the residents???? Shame!!! The majority of the roads here are still look as though the place was just bombed and our school looks like a ghetto toilet after YEARS of empty promises to rebuild it. We are SICK AND tired of this administration’s BS! Walk the walk and talk the talk, or get the f*** out of office!!!!
Get on the street and tell the Government who is the boss.you elect him you tell him what you want, and if they don’t agree you kick him out, SIMPLE AS THAT
Time to take a stand. Rise up and be heard!
If the Dear Leader won’t listen to you, protest. If he still won’t listen, then secede. USVI would welcome you with warm arms.
I like your idea. If he can’t and won’t do anything for us then we do it for ourselves. Let’s get together and start making plans. Maybe that will get us heard.
Can you imagine a US JVD? We would have so much business
Great idea. Immediate gains would be construction of Federal buildings for Immigration and Naturalisation, Customs and Border Patrol, Coastal Zone Management, USCG, and….the IRS, who would be looking for tax returns to fund all of this. And free movement of US citizens who have the world-beating number of daily Covid cases of 70,916 per day.
HON MITCH IS A ASK HE SHOULD HAVE LISTEN TO HIS PEOPLE AND RUN WITH THE VIP !
QUESTION? MITCH TAPE RECORD YOUR
SELF AND LISTEN TO YOU AND SEE HOW YOU SOUND LIKE A REAL J—–SS .WHEN YOU COULD HAVE BEEN SITTING DOWN IN A COMFORTABLE SEAT.HELPING YOUR PEOPLE TELL ME WHAT WAS YOUR PLAN THEN ?AND WHAT IS YOUR PLAN NOW?WELL YOUR PLANS SSSSSSSTTTIIINNNKKKKSSS
Mitch never tells the truth