“I haven’t had a proper briefing on that task force that you (reporter) have mentioned but what I can say to you is that we are working hard to get the Trade Commission up and running,” Dr Wheatley stated at a recent press briefing.

According to the Premier, the steadily escalating fuel prices arising from the Russia/Ukraine conflict have affected everything in the BVI society, especially since the territory is very dependent on shipping to get products into the Virgin Islands.

“We have been dealing with some issues of inflation, of course, the cost of fuel has been through the roof. Of course, persons would’ve noticed increased electricity bills, etcetera because of just the high cost of fuel,” he stated.

The Premier further noted that an aspect of the Trade Commission has to do with consumer affairs, and the legislation for this has already been passed in the House of Assembly several months ago.

He said the legislation has a provision for monitoring things such as price gouging, for instance.

Premier Wheatley also shared that the Business Licensing Act – another priority on the government’s agenda – also plays an important role in helping to set up the Trade Commission and its operations.

The Premier said he would be reporting soon on the set up of the Trade Commission which has the responsibility of a consumer affairs unit as part of its remit.

When pressed about the urgency of the debilitating effect of escalating prices and the task force being able to put things in place to mitigate these in the interim, however, the Premier promised to issue an update from the task force within the next few days.