Honestly Speaking radio moderator, Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline has remarked that division created in the Territory amongst the people and leaders is part of the reason the Governor's seat is still a part of the Virgin Islands (VI) Cabinet even when an opportunity was presented to remove it.

"We agreed here as one people, one spirit, one mindset and got there and division erupted amongst us," Mr Skelton-Cline said on the Monday, May 11, 2020, special edition of his 'Honestly Speaking' show on ZBVI 780 AM.

Continued division

He said part of the reason the Territory is not further along as it could and should be is not because of what somebody else did, rather, it is due to continued division amongst the people of the Territory.

According to the 'man of the cloth', "The division is about jealousy, it's about who has the power at the time, and then we missed the principle that should be the guiding force for the decisions we make."

Over the years, Mr Skelton-Cline has pointed to the removal of the Governor, referred to as the 'Queen's representative', as the starting point of the VI charting its own course and building a nation on self-determination and independence.

"Because we could not agree among ourselves, even though we agreed before we left here, is why the Governor still sits in Cabinet today," he said regarding the 2007 Constitutional Reform.

Changing for the future

Mr Skelton-Cline said a realisation of change for the Territory must start now, coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning with agreeing on self-identity and a common goal to move forward together.

"If we do not do that we will continue to lag behind even our regional neighbours who have outflanked us on this matter of self-determination and independence," he said.

"We got to stop tearing down each other, we got to stop pulling down each other, we got to start building and bracing each other," Mr Skelton-Cline underscored.