Political opponents have spent entire campaign on 'kicking VIP out of office'- Premier
Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) has lamented that the other political parties, namely National Democratic Party (NDP) and Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM), have spent their entire campaign focusing on what they termed as mistakes of the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) but have neglected to share a clear vision for the territory to their supporters.
He also said the other parties trying to portray themselves as squeaky clean is hypocrisy and not what is needed to take the Virgin Islands forward at this juncture.
VIP has campaigned on its record & plans- Dr Wheatley
Speaking at the final rally of the VIP on Saturday, April 22, 2023, in the area of One Stop Mall in Road Town, Dr Wheatley said the VIP throughout its campaign has been speaking about its record and plans.
“We have been speaking to you about that fact that we have been guiding the Virgin Islands through very turbulent waters. We were speaking to about the fact that we were helping with the recovery from the hurricanes.”
He said the electorate was told how the VIP administration rebuilt the Elmore Stoutt High School, refurbished the now L. Adorothy Turnbull L-Shaped- Building, rebuilt the Bregado Flax Educational Centre, is rebuilding the Jost van Dyke Primary School, repaired the Jeffrey Caines Arena on Virgin Gorda and did repair works on recreational facilities also on Anegada and Tortola.
Speaking at the final rally of the VIP on
Saturday, April 22, 2023, in the area of One Stop Mall in Road Town, Dr
Wheatley said the VIP throughout its campaign has been speaking about
its record and plans.
Other VIP achievements
The Premier continued that the VIP government repaired administration buildings, fire stations, post offices and mailboxes across the islands.
“We have been telling you how we helped the Virgin Islands to recover from the most devastating natural disasters in our history…We told you how we helped to guide and protest the Virgin Islands through the pandemic by God’s grace and mercy. We told you how we helped to keep COVID-19 out.
“We ensured that not one family went hungry during the pandemic.”
Other achievements mentioned were the building of social homes, provision of assistance grants, rebuilding of the Market Square, traffic turnaround, direct flights, solar power on Anegada, passing of the National Sustainable Development Plan, the Blue and Green Economy and transforming the Exclusive Fisheries Zone into an Exclusive Economic Zone, among others.
Political opponents of the Virgin Islands
Party (VIP) have been accused of focusing heavily on the mistakes of
the VIP and have spent less time on providing clear plans for the
territory.
‘Hypocrisy’
“Our opponents on the other hand have based their entire campaign on kicking the VIP out of office. Some of them even put up on a screen in Fish Bay, ‘kick dem out’ and they have a ball there being kicked out.
“They are spending all their time telling you why you should get rid of the VIP, as opposed to telling you why you should vote for them. And that should tell you something.
Dr Wheatley said NDP 1 and NDP 2 (PVIM) have based their campaign on VIP mistakes and put up a “billboard full of nonsense”.
The Premier said the Virgin Islands cannot move forward if it is unable to acknowledge where it has gone wrong.
Dr Wheatley acknowledged that the NDP and PVIM wanted their supporters to focus solely on the Virgin Islands Party mistakes, but they have ignored their own.
“I am saying to you that is hypocrisy and that will never take us where we need to go.”
Only the VIP has a full slate of 13 candidates for the 2023 General Elections.
PVIM has nine candidates on its slate while the NDP also has nine candidates.
