Price of Past, Plans for Future
An opinion piece published by Virgin Islands News Online urges the Territory to confront historical inequalities and outlines 10 policy objectives to build a more self-reliant, equitable British Virgin Islands. Issues highlighted include land ownership, food security, education, justice reform and fiscal policy, all framed as foundational needs for long-term resilience.
An impassioned editorial first published on Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) calls on residents of the British Virgin Islands to confront systemic inequality and embrace concrete reforms to improve life for current and future generations. The writer argues that long-standing social conditioning and manufactured beliefs have left many Islanders accepting inequality as inevitable.
Against that backdrop, the piece stresses the need for an honest national conversation about rights, responsibility and practical policies that can move the Territory beyond short-term comforts toward sustainable progress. Central to the commentary is a list of 10 objectives the author says would make a lasting difference for the Territory and its people.
These are presented as unfinished tasks whose absence has held back development for decades and contributed to persistent deprivation among BVI children. Ensuring human and civil rights for all 2. Access to and ownership of real estate, including support for first-time homeowners 3.
Support and subsidies for farming, fishing and local production 4. Protection and encouragement of local companies and employment 5. State-assisted training and higher education 6. Replacing imprisonment as a default solution, especially in child support cases 7. Provision of public defenders for those unable to afford lawyers 8.
Public arbitration of salaries for civil servants and politicians 9. Reduction or removal of income taxes for Virgin Islanders and local companies 10. Increases in Social Security and National Health Insurance contributions and benefits The editorial situates these proposals in local realities: the BVI is a hurricane-prone jurisdiction where robust foundations — physical and social — matter, and where over-reliance on imported food and external labour undermines resilience.
The writer emphasises farming and fishing as traditional survival skills that deserve renewed support, and flags the social costs of incarceration and unequal access to legal representation. While the piece is opinionated, it is a call to action: to gather ideas, debate them publicly, and prioritise policies that protect rights and build capacity.
The author warns that without such a forward movement, promises and excuses will continue to forestall progress. The editorial concludes with a pledge to continue addressing readers' questions and comments. The original article is copyrighted by Virgin Islands News Online (© 2012).
Primary source: VINO