Residents will soon have the verdict regarding the controversial “Police in Paradise” video as the National Security Council (NSC) is scheduled to meet this week to discuss the matter.
This was confirmed by Governor His Excellency John Rankin during a joint press conference with the premier on Wednesday.
When asked about an update on the subject, Governor Rankin said the topic will be up for discussion during the meeting which is slated to occur in the coming days, adding that subsequently, an update on decisions made will be provided to the public.
He said, “The National Security Council will be meeting later this week and precisely on the agenda will be that issue, with the discussion with the National Security Council with the premier and the deputy premier, the police commissioner and myself and the attorney general who will be discussing those issues and no doubt, after we’ve done so, further information will be available.”
The six-minute-long video which circulated across the territory in late June was met with disgust by the majority of residents who saw the clip.
Premier Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley in his response to the video described it as inappropriate and unfortunate.
“This is a very unfortunate depiction of the BVI, highly damaging to our image as a tourist destination… The video has unsettled many persons in our local and business community because of its highly distorted portrayal of the British Virgin Islands, which gives the impression that our islands are an unsafe tourist destination infested with drugs and crime. This is not true,” Premier Wheatley said in a statement back in June.
Governor Rankin shared similar sentiments in a subsequent media statement but noted that the producers of the video had a consultation with the BVI Tourist Board prior to it being filmed.
This position shared by the governor was later denounced by the Director of Tourism Clive McCoy who refuted the claims that the producers had any contact with the BVITB prior to the commencement of filming.
In fact, Director McCoy said the BVITB first became aware of the video only after it had gone viral across the territory.