Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Why The Rush? CoI Drills Wheatley On Speeding Up $10M Land Investment Plan

Why The Rush? CoI Drills Wheatley On Speeding Up $10M Land Investment Plan

Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration Hon. Vincent Wheatley has defended the Government’s decision to speed up a major investment proposal last year, stating that the Government was in the midst of the ongoing pandemic and seeking ways to keep the economy alive.
On October 14, Counsel to the Commission of Inquiry (CoI), Mr. Bilal Rawat said, a company in question submitted a letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources requesting to lease a portion of Crown land opposite the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Hospital in Road Town for commercial purposes for a 99-year term.

“That was acknowledged by the Ministry, it was mentioned that's what was required, a detailed business plan,” Rawat said.

He further informed that on the 15th of December, 2020 the ministry received the said business plan for the development and the estimated cost was between $10 to $15 million, and the matter was taken to Cabinet for perusal the following day December 16, 2020.

Mr. Rawat said the ministry made a survey request and a valuation report which was going to be required; the next step would be the execution of the lease agreement. The land had to also be subdivided.

Rawat said, at the time, the matter was flagged by the Attorney General’s Chambers as being “premature” because of the outstanding valuation report and the like.

“As I understand it from Mr. [Joseph] Smith-Abbott [Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources], the process is that the survey and the valuation report ought to be available prior to any recommendation to Cabinet,” Mr. Rawat said.

Wheatley replied that he thinks that the said documents are necessary to obtain the lease; he is not so sure it needed to be recommended to Cabinet.

Mr. Rawat continued his questioning: “…but why the rush?”

Wheatley replied: “you see the date on it? In the middle of a pandemic, we are trying to get economic activity in the country. Somebody is trying to put an injection of $10 million in an economy in a very bad time. The worse pandemic in 100 years. We are scrambling, trying to figure out how we are going to get this economy moving, that’s the hurry. That was the hurry to get economic activity in the country.”

He said all the requisite documentation would have to be submitted prior to the applicant being granted a lease, but “at least this gives them permission to go ahead preparing these things. This is not a lease, this is Cabinet saying go ahead, and once you get these things now we can prepare a lease for you and get some activity going in the country; $10 to $15 million is a lot of money."

Nonetheless, Wheatley said, “If memory serves me right, I don’t think that lease is done yet,” when further questioned on it.
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?
×