In a shocking turn of events regarding the BVI’s border security, the Premier of the Virgin Islands, Honorable Andrew Fahie, within his speech to the House of Assembly last night, revealed that it was the BVI Government who requested the UK’s help to patrol the borders, dismissing the Governor’s recently publicized stance on the matter.
“We are the ones who approached the Governor in a letter telling him the platform will soon move, so can you (the governor) bring the ships in so that we can get three months out of them until we get in our radar system and satellite system that we’re purchasing for the country. We! And then next thing you know, statement comes out Friday making it sound like they had to override the Premier; I nearly fall off my chair when I heard this thing. Override? And we’re the ones who ask for it?”
In speaking to the October timeline, which residents have questioned the premier added “it was always coming October, there’s nothing asked for that wasn’t there (in the governor’s statement) the ship was coming October all the time. And we asked for more months, three months, because after October we were concerned and that’s where most of the entanglement came up. But nobody was against any ship coming! I have my letters to show that we wrote and asked for them to come in to replace when the platform (barge) time would have been up, until we get all the resources that that we looking for,” the Premier added.
The premier has also declined the UK’s financial assistance on this project.
He said “we’re going to buy the systems, and out people going to learn to run the systems. There’s a reason that the last Government, give them credit, had do CAPS with Customs. Because CAPS is something that we keep our own data. We didn’t join up to get it free which was offered to us. We keeping our own data because anybody who get that data would know how our trade goes in this country. And they could do damage to our economy because they’ll understand how our trade goes! Likewise, we want to the one and must be the ones who maturing to keep our own data with security with the systems we putting in.”
These sentiments were reiterated the Premier’s recent letter to Baroness Elizabeth Sugg in the UK in which he accuses Governor Jaspert of trying to “bulldoze” the government through imperialism to “hijack” the territory’s sea border protection.
“Premier Fahie stated “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 to inspire national pride and confidence.”
“Should the UK Government still wish to donate the $300,000 that the Governor 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,” Premier Fahie added.