Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

OPINION: Why don’t we trust our elected reps?

OPINION: Why don’t we trust our elected reps?

I often hear our politicians in the House of Assembly purporting that Virgin Islanders prefer the leadership of the governor and the UK over that of elected leaders. Premier Fahie even described some as having “shackles on our minds” when trying to illustrate that the public doesn’t believe our own people can lead with excellence.
This is the line I hear them arguing along and I would just like to correct the flaw in this reasoning.

You see, we the people know that Virgin Islanders are bright, intelligent people who have been blazing a trail of excellence, taking up their rightful place in this territory and all over the world. It ain’t about your intellectual capacity. What it is about is the way our people have been burned by local politicians over the years. I don’t need to rehash the numerous scandals that have plagued our two major political parties. I’m not saying they were all true, but scandals have the ability to undermine the people’s confidence and that’s what happens each time one comes out.

Our elected leaders are not very transparent. They don’t seem to want to be questioned by anyone– not by the poor journalists, not by the civil servants, UK officials, and certainly not the rest of the electorate. I hear the words they use to describe the ‘bloggers’ and people who comment on local politics. It’s a shame, to be honest.

I must say the present Fahie-led administration seems to be more forthcoming with information than the last NDP administration, I’ll give them that. But even then, a lot of their revelations are reactive. A lot of the time, information is published by the government after the blogs write a story or after the Governor makes a statement. It shouldn’t be this way. Transparency means sharing information “just because” we should know. This way you can build trust.

With that said, the Governor’s Office is seen as an objective arm of government. Governors are not locals, they are not as entrenched in the local melee and spats that our elected leaders are prone to. Because of this, people see that office as the bulwark against the actions of elected leaders. That’s all it is. It’s not that people are looking to the “white man” to be our saviour. When elected leaders say that, it makes us seem backward and ‘un-emancipated’.

I see the Premier pushing to have the Governor’s Office evaluated under the proposed Integrity In Public Life Act. I don’t disagree with this move. Everyone should be held accountable. But until we find lack of transparency, victimisation and evidence that the Governor’s Office has misused public funds, we will always be harder on our elected leaders. The best thing for elected leaders to do is to own up to what has happened in the past and commit to moving forward in a transparent manner. It’s as simple as that.

On the other hand, the government isn’t handling this pandemic badly at all. I commend them.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×