Nothing has changed! Fraser bemoans HOA’s decades of stagnation
Third District Representative Julian Fraser has bemoaned the lack of change in the House Assembly (HOA) over the 22 years that he has served as a legislator.
During his contribution in the HOA recently, the legislator questioned why there was apprehension for Virgin Islanders to move forward.
“Are they really going through 22 years and end up like this?” Fraser asked.
He even joked that the furniture in the House of Assembly has remained the same over the years.
“These governments paid a lot of money to send kids to the best colleges in the world and they come back and they’re just complacent and happy to live life the way they met it,” he stated.
He expressed that persons who were afraid to make changes are generally those who are afraid to meet a challenge.
“I get it, I understand it. Apprehension is a thing that keeps us where we are, but if we educate people that apprehension would go away and they will become allies of ours in this little endeavour of ours,” Fraser said.
Fraser also said he wanted to see a brighter day for future generations of the territory but said the current trajectory for the BVI requires a drastic change.
“On the path that we are heading, if something doesn’t change — and the thing that has to change is a drastic change; if that doesn’t change, that brighter day isn’t coming,” he stated.
The legislator said while there might be some who don’t want to see certain changes, there are enough people in the territory that want it.
He added that people sometimes question what will happen to the US dollar — which is being used as the BVI’s main currency — if the territory seeks independence.
“Nothing will happen to the dollar, the dollar stays just where it is — in your pocket. There is no correlation between independence and the dollar,” he added.
Fraser also refuted assertions that the BVI will be ‘dumping the UK’ if it goes independent; noting that this was not the case for Barbados which recently established itself as a Republic after becoming independent more than 50 years ago.
“Are they really going through 22 years and end up like this?” Fraser asked.
He even joked that the furniture in the House of Assembly has remained the same over the years.
“These governments paid a lot of money to send kids to the best colleges in the world and they come back and they’re just complacent and happy to live life the way they met it,” he stated.
He expressed that persons who were afraid to make changes are generally those who are afraid to meet a challenge.
“I get it, I understand it. Apprehension is a thing that keeps us where we are, but if we educate people that apprehension would go away and they will become allies of ours in this little endeavour of ours,” Fraser said.
Fraser also said he wanted to see a brighter day for future generations of the territory but said the current trajectory for the BVI requires a drastic change.
“On the path that we are heading, if something doesn’t change — and the thing that has to change is a drastic change; if that doesn’t change, that brighter day isn’t coming,” he stated.
The legislator said while there might be some who don’t want to see certain changes, there are enough people in the territory that want it.
He added that people sometimes question what will happen to the US dollar — which is being used as the BVI’s main currency — if the territory seeks independence.
“Nothing will happen to the dollar, the dollar stays just where it is — in your pocket. There is no correlation between independence and the dollar,” he added.
Fraser also refuted assertions that the BVI will be ‘dumping the UK’ if it goes independent; noting that this was not the case for Barbados which recently established itself as a Republic after becoming independent more than 50 years ago.
