They’re no better than us — Walwyn
Sixth District Representative Myron Walwyn has slammed UK critics who have accused the BVI of poor governance, which led to the Commission of Inquiry (COI), arguing that their governance systems are no better.
Speaking in the House of Assembly, Walwyn said it was unfortunate that it took the COI report to get the territory to address immigration reform. He criticised the UK, saying the British government has a history of using a “divide and conquer” strategy in its territories.
“They’re no better than us, but if the division continues between us, that is what is going to weaken us,” Walwyn argued. “So we got to get that strength together, and the strength is in recognising all the peoples that belong to the Virgin Islands. We have to get on the same page because there’s unity in strength.”
Walwyn also pointed to investigations focused on local elected leaders, such as himself, in the wake of the inquiry. “They’ve come back and said to the country’s people, ‘You cannot trust your leader, all of them corrupt,’ even poor me they string up, poor Myron,” Walwyn said. “But time will tell.”
He also questioned the motives of the COI, suggesting that it was designed to make the BVI look more corrupt than it is. He pointed to the terms of reference given to the Commissioner, which he said focused on “serious dishonesty” rather than the many positive aspects of the territory’s governance.
“You tell me to look for dishonesty, and I might see all these other good things, but that is not what I was hired to do,” Walwyn said. “The dishonesty might be 1% and the good things might be 99%, but is it dishonesty that I have been given in my terms of reference. That is what I’m going to report on.”
Walwyn’s comments come as the BVI is under intense pressure to implement the recommendations of the COI report. The report found that the territory had a “culture of cronyism” and that the government was not doing enough to tackle corruption.
The UK has threatened to impose direct rule on the BVI if it does not make sufficient and timely progress on implementing the reforms. However, Walwyn argued that the BVI can govern itself.
“We have challenges, yes, and we have to fix them,” he said. “But we can’t have the divide and conquer.”
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They’re as bad as us , what great leadership.
UK legislative Parliament is much better than BVI House of Assembly. UK Parliament formed in 1707. HOA formed in 2007. So Parliament has 300+ years of experience more than the 17 years of the HOA.
Our first constitution was not 2007! That is the year it was amended / updated!
He just mad over his arrest and charge over the wall
It took us years to realize what they are doing? WOW. BVI have no shame. There is nothing we, the BVI people can do now more than comply. The UK already have us in lock. Thats the fact. We decided to act too late.
i always thought that the bvi was a self governing territory. what is the problem now? i thought that the bvi legislative council chambers members was a self-governing body to elect district members in a fair general election without any type of fraud and i thought that having a governor and a chief minister and elected official for each district was a working referendum in the bvi. what is a premeir? i thought all along that the british virgin islands had a chief minister with a governor and a legislative council chambers to uphold the territory of the british virgin islands as self government. i thought the bvi legislative council chambers was about a self governing body.
300 years honing their skills in deception and deflection. These or those whose parents and ancestors still whipping your stupid selves. Oh yes mass A you right give it to me as you like. That’s for those or these @— wipers who is eating fed the good pie. Picked from the floor no less. Tihs taste muah
With all due respect sir, two wrongs will never make a right. The fact that someone is doing wrong does not justify wrongdoing on the part of everyone. Whataboutism is the option of an errant child.
There is corruption in the UK, as there is in every other country in the world. The difference between theirs and yours is that they have systems of checks and balances in place to minimize such conduct. You know for a fact that senior government officials and politicians are forced to resign AND are sometimes jailed when found guilty of bad conduct in public office. Does this ever happen in these parts? Our corrupt officials are often applauded and rewarded, instead of being held accountable. They are lauded as heroes. We have a lot to learn I dare say.
That 1% is an amount that could /will topple these BVIand cause distrust in Government.
Zero corruption must be the target. Si ning a lil bit is no different than sinning a lot.
Walwyn you are mad and calling down the UK and the COI because you are co***pt,anyone who think that the COI wasn’t needed in my book you wanted to keep hiding the coorruption.Walwyn there is nothing you can do about the UK.Most of the people of the BVI don’t want independence it would be a very big mistake to put ourselves in you all hands and China. All of you were put in there to run the country and fix it but all of you just talking crap and spending the people’s money on crap and not fixing what need to fixed.None of you are fit to run a country.
I love the “ they do it too” mentality. So turd world.
you bad mouthing ( CINDY ) and here you are USING her name to blogg sh*t , how low can you get ? Is yhemis how you plan to win the 3rd district ? that dude the ( ZHAR ) is a full blown tolian , YOU AIN’T ,/ plus Cindy ain’t running for political stardom ,, she’s just doing her job , by telling it as it is , ONLY THOSE WHO HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE SEEMS TO HAVE A PROBLEM
Boy making yourself look bad ,and you making what the boss for the opposition said , seems like their is some truth to what he said about what the COI is causing (RETARDATION side effects
Don’t forget we literally have our once premier Andrew Fahie rotting in a cell right now. So technically y’all corrupt. Not saying the UK is any better. Just right now the lesser of two evils.
Myron, go sit down with your wrong and strong message. What exactly is your legacy?
He got rich.
But we should aspire to be better than them
“He said, and I quote, ‘With limited exceptions, in terms of governance (that is, how government makes and implements decisions), the people of the BVI have been badly served in recent years’ end quote, Governor Pruce said.
They don’t have to divide us you guys do that already
The BVI is tooo divided between locals, belongets and expatriates.
We already did that to our Caribbean brothers and sisters . The UK did not do that in that element, we did it to ourselves abd still doing it .
It is evident in social gatherings . We cannot deny truth in that element Myron. You are a victim in the division between NDP and PVIM … we have short memories
Why do we think that the UK will be better than what we got? Right now things are difficult in this country. Cost of living is through the roof. The assistance that was in the past given to those in need has been ceased and the money is left unspent. The COI didn’t open our eyes. We knew all along what was going on, but we refused to vote out those who were spending Government’s finances as if it was their own piggy bank. But as long as they broke off a little piece for some of you, you were happy looking the other way. Now, we are all feeling the pinch as the pot holes and dirty streets and high cost of living affects us all and you bawling for UK? That $300 that you sold your vote for can’t even buy groceries for a week. Hopefully next time we will vote wisely. UK though is not invited to the party. The Governor now, since the COI, loves making speeches. The Police Force and the Public Service is overseen personally by the Governor and a UK Commissioner in the case of the RVIPF. Until those things prove to be better that we had before, I don’t even want to have the conversation. You think your own politicians treated you badly? Well, not sure what white ones will do to you and me, but sorry, slavery has been abolished, but we still working hard for less pay.
We take our small pay and build a decent life for ourselves and now they are back. Life may be better or maybe worse under UK rule, but sorry, I don’t care to find out. If they came after Irma/Maria and helped us, then that would have shown caring. Instead they offered us a loan. Well we are not their children. When storms blow your children’s homes to smittereens and they are hungry, you don’t send police to keep them off the road and your Prince, now King come to see and then leaves. As far as I’m concerned they can stay gone. They were happy being a spectator then, so let them continue to spectate.
At least you can drive on the roads, afford the internet, afford food, have support for homeless and the disadvantaged, expect an airline to exist if you pay for it, have financial audited reports at the end of each year, Ministers resign if they do wrong, people who commit crimes actually get convicted, have roundabouts and lights in the right places, solar power without having to pay twice to get the system built, respectful and competent Immigration and customs officers, developed anti racism polices, housing projects for the poor, (not for the rich Joes Hill idea), a school system with education in schools not Hardware stores, Flood protection, road and drainage cleaning plan and systems….. OK too much already. They really are doing a little bit better at everything but corruption.
You are totally without knowledge or very naieve.
The uropean, and inthis case, the European man has beenusing psychological tools to divide us for centuries, and he has had trememndous success with them. You have a lot of historic catching up to do.
Even to this very moment they are here using media to keep us, the local, belonger, “UpdeIsland people and Africans and other Black people divided and fighting each other.
But many of will never believe such as we do not read, study,observe, analyze and decipher things and occurences when. they occur.
The COI is not about US and THEM, it’s about the corruption and cronyism in the BVI. Mr Walwyn, stop trying to defend yourself by deflecting the conversation. There are several characters in govt. and ‘consultants’ who have benefited from misspent taxpayer money. It’s time to weed out the wrong-doers
Crazy…uk way better stop ya nonsense