Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Jul 26, 2025

VI made ‘big mistake’ in not accepting UK loan guarantee- Dr Pickering

VI made ‘big mistake’ in not accepting UK loan guarantee- Dr Pickering

Former Deputy Premier Dr Kedrick D. Pickering says it was a big mistake for the Virgin Islands Government to not take up a United Kingdom (UK) £300M loan guarantee offer for hurricane recovery and infrastructure development.

Dr Pickering made the statements while a guest on the Monday, February 6, 2023, edition of the Umoja radio show hosted by Cromwell Smith aka Ed Ju Enka on ZBVI 780AM.

Instead of a loan or a grant, the United Kingdom had only offered a loan guarantee, following the devastation of the VI by Hurricane Irma and Maria in September 2017.

VI should have taken guarantee - Dr Pickering

“One of the big mistakes we made was not taking that loan guarantee from the United Kingdom, because that loan guarantee is money we couldn't spend over 20 years. It would have taken us a few years to spend that money,” he said while admitting that he has said it privately.

While the loan guarantee was initially offered under the then Dr D. Orlando Smith's National Democratic Party (NDP) government, of which Dr Pickering was a part of, and inherited by the then Andrew A. Fahie's Virgin Islands Party (VIP) administration,Mr Fahie was skeptical about taking up the loan over its stipulations.

The former Deputy Premier and At Large Candidate for the 2023 General Election said the VI did not need to borrow amounts that would interfere with the threshold as set out in the Protocols for Effective Financial Management and could have also negotiated some of the terms.

The VI government under Mr Fahie had tried unsuccessfully to get the UK to increase the borrowing threshold to allow the VI to borrow significant amounts without violating the protocols.

According to Dr Pickering, “You get what you negotiate and that's what negotiations are about, real people sitting with real people and having discussions. So I can tell you what I want and you can tell me what you want, and there has to be a middle… negotiations can only be successful if both parties win,” he added.

Dr Pickering posited that had the VI taken up the offer, it would have given the territory the opportunity to take a comprehensive look at its local infrastructure and come up with a strategy to fix it, given the available access to financing would have been there.

“One of the mistakes was that we didn't need 400 million [dollars] in our pocket, we didn't need 400 [million dollars] in our bank account. It was saying to you that we will guarantee you up to this amount, if it becomes necessary. So if we could only spend $50 million a year, we would take that $50 million based on what we negotiate for that $50 million.”
Dr Pickering made the statements while as a guest on the Monday, February 6, 2023, edition of the Umoja radio show hosted by Cromwell Smith aka Ed Ju Enka on ZBVI 780am.


RDA was condition of loan guarantee - Dr Pickering

Dr Pickering added that one of the first conditions for the loan guarantee was the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), which was an agency that is set up by law. He added that the establishment of that agency created part of the infrastructure that was necessary to be able to get to the negotiating table.

“We don't have the money, and the chances are we won't have the money in the foreseeable future. What are we going to do? Sit back and watch infrastructure get worse and our quality of life continue to degenerate because we don't have the money?”

He said while the VI has no funds, Government can find a mechanism of accessing the money to do the work which will improve our quality of life and in turn, this improves local investment opportunities both locally and regionally.

“The loan guarantee was something that the United Kingdom government was allowing us to have access to, we then were going to be the final arbiters in determining what we are going to use and how we are going to use it,” he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×