The accusation was made by government minister Vincent Wheatley when he appeared on the Honestly Speaking radio show yesterday, September 16.

Premier Andrew Fahie appeared before the COI yesterday to answer questions about the constitution of statutory boards in the territory and to explain why it was his administration’s policy to discard board members once they (the government) first entered office in 2019.

“I watched the Premier a while ago and all I could do was shake my head. Here’s the leader of a country being grilled like a criminal in the public space,” Wheatley said.

Wheatley emphasised that Fahie was the leader of a democratic country.

He further said the 1880 COI Act was being used like a millstone around the neck of the Virgin Islands. The minister further accused the United Kingdom of playing a surreptitious ‘long game’ in establishing the COI at this stage in the BVI’s development.

According to Wheatley, the BVI, too, must learn to play the proverbial ‘long game’; coming together in a common purpose.

He further stated that the BVI must learn to play chess and not checkers in how it approached development.

“What is the UK’s real role in our development?” Wheatley questioned.

He said the UK had a right to make sure the BVI was on the right path from day one.

“Don’t come and try me like some common criminal after all these years when you were supposed to be making sure that we [get support] … It’s time for us to take things into our own hands” he added.

“Since you have failed us, let’s row our own boat ourselves now,” Wheatley continued.