Premier Andrew Fahie made that abundantly clear while addressing the House of Assembly on Tuesday, June 23.

“It ain’t only the post of AG (Attorney General) going in there as a Virgin Islander. Every single post that we have that is a senior post; that has to be attached to it. The Financial Secretary, the Controller of Customs, Immigration, Commissioner of Police - all of those senior posts have to have inside of it that it must be a Virgin Islander,” the Premier said.

In cases where there are no qualified locals available to sit in a senior post, Fahie said the revised constitution will have provisos mandating that the first Virgin Islander who qualifies must get the job when the incumbent expat’s contract ends.

Multiple senior posts such as the Commissioner of Police, the Superintendent of Prison, the Chief Environmental Health Officer are all occupied by non-Virgin Islanders. Up till recently, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the CEO of the BVI Health Services were non-locals.

The constitutional review

The constitutional review, in the meantime, is to be led by a Constitutional Review Commission, which will be implemented upon approval from the House of Assembly.

The nine-member commission is expected to host public forums to garner feedback then submit a report to Cabinet six months after commencement.

Upon completion of the constitutional review, it will be presented to the United Kingdom government. Cabinet only decided to move forward with the review this month.