Marine charter companies in the USVI have been told they should prepare to pay more to take passengers to the BVI.
That’s according to Lieutenant Governor Tregenza Roach during Tuesday’s press briefing from Government House.
However, he believes the fees will be more reasonable than what was being initially proposed by BVI authorities.
In February, the USVI charter industry was thrown into uproar when news broke that the British Virgin Islands was proposing staggering increases on annual fees for overnight and day sail operators coming into the territory.
USVI Governor Albert Bryan Jr. and Premier Dr. Natalio met earlier this month and a decision was taken to place the pending legislation in the House of Assembly on hold until a mutually acceptable solution was reached.
Lt. Governor Roach said when they sit at the negotiating table they have to be alert to what is important to the persons sitting across from them, contrasting the circumstances of the American and British territories.
He explained that the BVI has a lot of control over who comes into its’ territory, and another fundamental difference is that they are largely self-sufficient, explaining that unlike the significant federal support received by the USVI, BVI does not get large cash transfers from the United Kingdom.
The USVI Lt. Gov said further when the BVI has a hurricane, they have to build back their place themselves, explaining why sufficient revenue collections is of vital importance to the territory.
During the recent high-level meeting between the two administrations, Roach said they’ve brought them to a place of movement,” implying that any eventual fee increases for day and overnight charter operators would not be as steep as originally planned. “
He said everybody was in a spirit of compromise, and a USVI authorities are conducting a data collection exercise ahead of a second meeting tentatively scheduled for late April.
Lt. Gov Roach believes that armed with that information, “by the time they go back to the table, they will be able to come to some conclusions, to come to a position everyone can live with.