Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) made this disclosure while speaking on the VIP Let’s Talk radio show live-streamed on Facebook on March 28, 2023.

Dr Wheatley said he believes a date may have already been set for the official announcement and this will take place very shortly- probably within the next two months.

He said the initiative is being executed in partnership with members of the community and one of the persons assisting in moving it forward is Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Premier, Mr Meade W. Malone.

Tax write-offs

“We have many wealthy people who live in the BVI and a lot of these wealthy persons in the United States of America are able to get tax write-offs when they make a charitable donation, but most of those charitable donations they don’t get the tax write-offs for in the Virgin Islands. So we’ve set up a fund that will allow them to get the tax [write-offs],” Dr Wheatley disclosed.

He added that very soon this move will allow some of the wealthy individuals residing in the VI to make charitable donations to develop areas such as recreational facilities and schools.

“And these are persons who, they have significant amounts of money…you just don’t know the type of persons and their net worth who actually live in the BVI, spend most of their time in the BVI. And if these persons were just to give charitable donations for tax write-offs here, significant…funds that can be used to help to build schools, to have educational programmes, recreational programmes, to help single mothers, social programmes to help strengthen the fabric of our society,” Dr Wheatley noted.

Funding needed for several projects

The Premier and Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Chairman also indicated that he has tasked the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) with building a national museum, national library, national performing arts centre and/or national archives which will attract funding from donors.

Dr Wheatley said while some persons have reacted negatively, he believes that it is a positive move.

The BVI Resilience Fund, formerly known as the BVI Restoration Foundation while under the Virgin Islands Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), is a charitable nonprofit organisation designed to support the growth and development of the Virgin Islands through philanthropic contributions.

It is a legal entity that will allow nationals of the United States to give a charitable gift for the benefit and growth of the Virgin Islands.