Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Smith blasts legislators for constant lateness! Calls for penalties

Smith blasts legislators for constant lateness! Calls for penalties

Territorial At-Large Representative, Neville ‘Sheep’ Smith has lambasted his fellow legislators for their constant tardiness at public events, particularly in the House of Assembly (HOA) where residents are often left waiting for hours past the advertised start time of proceedings.
While speaking in the HOA recently, Smith, who is also the Deputy House Speaker, argued that the constant lateness has been happening far too often and shows a poor example for residents of the territory.

“They’re all here, smiling and laughing, but I’m very upset with my members for a lot of reasons and one of the main reasons is, our attendance, our tardiness. We have to do better,” Smith urged.

According to Smith, the indiscipline plummeted to new depths during the Friendship Day activities held on Tortola over the weekend between the US Virgin Islands and the BVI. “I’ve said it once, I’ve said it twice, but I think it came to a low when we had Friendship Day. It came to a low, and I spoke to my members already but I got to speak to them in public because I want them know I’m serious about it,” he added.

“We cannot continue to disrespect each other when it comes to being on time,” he said. “I come to every House of Assembly [sitting] on time, every function that we have, I come on time as well and to me it’s disrespectful for me that I have to be here early every single time and wait till every member show up here.”

Smith said that despite repeated entreaties from current Speaker Corine George-Massicote, nothing has changed regarding the behaviour of his fellow legislators. He also argued that the poor behaviour also negatively affected the staff of the HOA who are left waiting for hours on legislators.

“We can’t expect people to respect us and take us seriously if we continue coming in here the time we come in here and people waiting on us. It’s not right,” the first-term legislator argued.

Smith said there must be some way they could “punish each other” for tardiness going forward.

“Whether we start charging some sort of fine, and it goes towards a charity or something, but something have to happen,“ Smith pleaded.

“I am on the same level with each one of them here, we’re all on the same level, and I respect each one of you all, but Lord, respect me too,” he added.

Smith explained that he joined the HOA from the private sector where he was required to be on time for activities. He further argued that he was not seeking any popularity and noted that legislators should not be asking persons to listen to them and respect them in light of their behaviour.

“What are we teaching our children or the younger people?” Smith asked. “Our leaders coming late, and when we come late we even don’t apologise.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×