Governor of the Virgin Islands (VI) His Excellency Mr Augustus J. U. Jaspert has denied accusations of painting the Premier, Hon Andrew A. Fahie (R1) in a 'negative light' during the question and answer segment of his latest press conference on Thursday, May 21, 2020.
The Governor responding to questions from a ZBVI reporter said, "to be honest, I've worked with two different Premier's here and don't comment on Premiers and I won't get drawn on that, my role isn't to get involved in politics, my role is to support whichever the government is in power."

Governor downplaying Premier's concerns

However, Governor Jaspert remains controversial for his combative political style and have long been accused of interfering in the in domestic affairs of the local government and not crediting their efforts in office.

At the same press conference, the Governor lashing back at comments from Hon Fahie, had suggested to the media that the Premier was essentially misleading the public over his concerns regarding the conditions of the Protocols for Effective Financial Management hampering the government's COVID-19 economic package.

The Premier's said the ability of his Government to seek out loan funding to stimulate economic activity was being constrained by the conditions.

However, instead of supporting the government, Governor Jaspert moved to downplay those concerns, telling the VI public instead, that he had seen no evidence to indicate that the conditions of the protocols were a hamper the government's ability to bring forward an economic package.

The Governor's comment had essentially painted a picture that the VI government was using the conditions as an excuse for not rolling out its economic stimulus plan.

'I will correct misrepresentations' - Gov Jaspert

On Thursday afternoon the Premier responded by saying, "When persons are telling you that we can spend the reserves and there's no problem, the money is there... the money is there, we can spend... but everyone is free to do whatever they want to do, but they are not free from the consequences of their actions."

Ahead of the Premier's response, the Governor said that any misrepresentations on his part will be corrected, "I will always make sure I put out a correction that needs to be done."

When questioned on whether himself and the Premier had a 'good relationship', Mr Jaspert declined to comment directly.

"I'm not going to comment/judge relations with any individual politician... I work in partnership and support for the people of the territory, that's what drives me, that's what get me out of the bed in the morning," he said.

The UK appointed Governor entered office in August 2017 and was due to leave by July 2020, however, sources told VINO that he has since extended his stay until around July of 2021.