In a detailed and heated letter to Baroness Sugg, Premier of the Virgin Islands Hon. Andrew A Fahie penned his frustration on the recent decision by Governor of the Virgin Islands Augustus J U Jaspert to have UK Military come to the British Virgin Islands to assist in Boarder protection despite the Fahie Led Government declining their assistance. Fahie called the actions by Governor Jaspert a hijacking of the Territory’s seas border protection. The letter received by our newsroom dated September 25th, 2020 states:
“Dear Baroness Sugg:
A pleasant good day and God’s blessings to you and your family. I am writing to express my dissatisfaction and outrage with the hijacking of the Territory’s sea border protection by your Governor on the basis of a grossly inaccurate and exaggerated misrepresentation of the true state and extent of the capabilities of the BVI’s resources and the threat that the Territory faces during COVID-19.
Governor Jaspert’s intention to deliberately bulldoze the elected Government is pellucidly clear as he has issued a public statement at 6 pm local time today, 25 September, 2020, informing the public that the UK Government would be providing various things which my Government and I have not asked for and which we advised him of our objection to in the format in which he is proceeding to act. He has further, and yet again, made statements aimed at injuring the relationship between the people of the Virgin Islands and their democratically elected Government, and conducted himself in a manner that jeopardises the relationship between the BVI Government and the UK Government.
Your Governor’s imperialistic, rough-shod behaviour in this matter is offensive and insulting to my Government and I, as well as to the aspirations of the people of the Virgin Islands who are struggling to realize the centuries-old dream of their enslaved ancestors to one day be fully free of the grip of the British, as encapsulated in Article 73 of the United Nations Charter.
By letters to His Excellency on 15, 23 and 24 September, 2020 (copies attached for your convenience), I have been very clear that from a cultural perspective, the people of the Virgin Islands see a role for the UK Military in assisting certain aspects of our border protection strategy, but because of the desire to deve lop our domestic capabilities the invitation for UK Military assistance is limited to certain functions.
Our objective in this regard is that the BVI must be able to effectively manage its own affairs into the future with minimum assistance from the UK, especially where the UK’s ability to provide assistance is constrained, as is the present case.
As such, the request made of the UK, through the Governor, was for maritime surveillance support to complement the existing sea border protection strategy for a three-month period while a permanent border surveillance system is being procured and installed by the BVI.
No request was made for the UK to co-fund or to donate any funds to the procurement of the permanent border surveillance system. What was requested was for the UK to provide technical expertise with regard to the equipment needed and its installation. It was made very clear to the Governor that the BVI being able to purchase a border protection system on its own would be a tremendous accomplishment for Virgin Islanders and would inspire them to recognize their ability and to have confidence in themselves.
By letter this morning, 25th September, 2020, (copy attached for ease of reference) I suggested to the Governor that his unsolicited offer of 50 percent of the cost of the surveillance system – estimated at approximately $300,000, could be directed to other areas of need such as providing equipment and vessels for the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force and HM Customs.
Despite the position of the Government of the Virgin Islands being clearly articulated to Governor Jaspert, he proceeded to present a paper at this morning’s National Security Council (NSC) meeting which exaggerated the needs of the BVI to paint a fabricated inaccurate and misleading picture of the state of affairs and capabilities of the Territory to justify UK interventions, including military involvement, beyond the scope of what was requested by the Territorial Government.
The facts are that the Government of the Virgin Islands and our local teams from across the various Ministries and Departments has been performing admirably in containing and managing the spread of COVID-19 in the BVI. At the moment there are only eight active COVID-19 cases in the Territory and these are reducing almost daily. This is one of the reasons why we have been able to set the date for the reopening of our borders to tourists as 1 December, 2020.
While there were a few incidents of illegal entry into the BVI some time ago, we have been able to stop the trafficking of humans and illicit items by leveraging the resources available to us. This includes drawing on the support of the US Virgin Islands through our Friendship Day Agreement to coordinate their resources with ours; the mobilization of local surveillance assets by HM Customs; and the hard work of the BVI officers operating under the Joint Task Force and other agencies.
To describe the BVI’s situation as exasperated and our resources as stretched, as Governor Jaspert has done in his NSC paper, is an exaggeration and grossly misrepresents the state of affairs on the ground. To use this fabricated case to create justification for UK interventions is dishonest. To suggest that the UK Military and Government must swoop in and rescue the BVI people is highly insulting, considering that neither the BVI’s border protection nor our public health situations are out of control. The evidence is that these are being well managed by the Government of the Virgin Islands and our people.
When asked to amend his NSC paper to more accurately reflect the state of the Territory’s affairs and needs, and to keep the UK involvement within the scope of what was requested, Governor Jaspert was adamant that he would not. The meeting ended with the NSC not agreeing to the structure of Governor’s paper following an extended session in which Governor Jaspert’s demeanour became quite aggressive.
Around 6pm this evening, I was advised via a Facebook post of a public statement issued by the Governor in which he announced that the HMS Medway would be in the vicinity of the BVI for the month of October and that he is working to put in place a package for permanent border surveillance in spite of the wishes of the BVI people that they would like to do this on their own.
The Governor, yet again, went on to state to the public that my Government has declined and resisted the UK’s offer to assist in border protection, even though the records show that I have consistently stated that there is a role for the UK and that I have been asking Governor Jaspert for months to provide me with the details of the UK’s offer, which request he has consistently ignored.
The Governor’s actions are a serious affront to the partnership based on mutual respect that is supposed to exist between the BVI and the UK, as expressed in the Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007. It shows an unmitigated lack of reverence by the UK Government’s representative
in the Territory for the aspirations of the people of the Virgin Islands to exercise the highest degree of control over the affairs of their country at this stage of its development.
Yet again, your Governor has deliberately made public statements that serve to undermine the relationship between the BVI public and their democratically elected Government through dangerously misleading misinformation. You and your predecessor Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon have been made aware of his pattern of behaviour over the past 19 months and you have consistently reaffirmed your support for Governor Jaspert’s actions, your confidence in him and that of your Prime Minister and Government. You have made it clear that he is carrying out your agenda and that of your Government.
I must point out that such deliberate malicious actions, especially where it is designed to undermine the sitting Government and reinforce Britain’s colonial status quo in the BVI, fall within the classical definition of political sabotage, legitimised and sanctioned by the UK Government.
I wish to put you on notice that neither my Government nor I, nor the people of the Virgin Islands, will be tolerating this act of aggression by your Governor. We will not be bullied and we will not stay silent. I can assure you that the United Nations will be hearing about the UK Government’s sustained policy of political sabotage of the aspirations of the Virgin Islands people at the next C24 meeting. I will also be sharing this experience with the leaders of the other Overseas Territories and Dependencies as well as our CARICOM neighbours, and I will be very frank and open with the people of the Virgin Islands and the wider public from henceforth.
I have started here by copying all elected legislators in the Virgin Islands so that they may be aware of the tyranny that is unfolding through Governor Jaspert on behalf of the British Empire.
I reiterate that there are ways in which the UK Military can assist in the BVI’s border protection strategy. The requested assistance is for surveillance and interdiction support that is complementary to the current strategy. For any assistance to be meaningful, it must be for three months since this is the period of time we estimate is necessary for the permanent surveillance system to be procured and installed.
The Government of the Virgin Islands does not wish to co-fund the new permanent surveillance system. We have solicited no donations from the UK Government for this project as we wish the system to be 100 percent BVI-built and BVI-owned to inspire national pride and confidence. We ask that your Government and your Governor respect our wishes. Should the UK Government still wish to donate the $300,000 that Governor Jaspert claims he has identified, this can be directed to purchasing equipment for the RVIPF and HM Customs which Governor Jaspert has himself flagged as urgent.
In the interest of salvaging what is left of the relationship between our respective Governments after the havoc that has been wreaked by Governor Jaspert, especially over the past month, you would agree that before any further steps are taken to position the UK Military in BVI waters to support the current border protection strategy, it is prudent that you should consult with the people’s elected Government.
I remain optimistic that you will take steps to correct the high-handed actions of your Governor this afternoon and to ensure that the remainder of his stay in the BVI does not involve any further instances of insensitivity or gross disrespect to the people of the Virgin Islands or their elected Government.”