Does the VI Govt care about CARICOM?
The Virgin Islands remains an Associate Member of CARICOM and, according to the Premier’s Office report of 2012 laid in the House of Assembly on July 25, 2013 by Premier and Minister of Regional Affairs Dr. the Honouable D. Orlando Smith, “this affiliation remains an important strategic relationship for the Territory”.
VI has not attended CARICOM meetings in 5 years
While the 2012 report claims that the Virgin Islands (VI) continues to benefit from the various initiatives and programmes of CARICOM, the 2012 Premier’s Office reported that “at the overall level, however, the Territory has lagged in its engagement of the organization to the level of the Heads of Governments”
According to the report, meetings of the Heads of Governments of the Caribbean Community are held two times per year, however, “the BVI has not been represented in this forum in the last five (5) years although the Territory continues to meet its financial obligations to the organization by making regular contributions.”
In other words, tax payers of the Virgin Islands pay their financial contributions but are not around the table being represented by government, both the previous and the current Administrations in order to influence decisions, have a voice and ensure that the VI gets value for money.
Over a million dollars combined to all overseas regional and international bodies
No reasons were given in the 2012 report as to the 5 year absence of the VI from the Heads of Governments CARICOM meetings.
According to the Budget Estimate of 2013, the money paid to all regional and international organizations is well over a million dollars although the budget has been redesigned to hide such cost.
Each Ministry, including the Deputy Governor’s Office and the House of Assembly, makes its own contributions to different regional and international organizations.
The financial contributions to overseas organizations are diverse from, the Caribbean Community, OECS, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Association of Public Prosecutors, Caribbean Ombudsman Association, Caribbean Centre for Development Administration, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency, Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, United Kingdom Overseas Territories and Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre, just to name a very few with the price tag of over a million dollars.
CARICOM, the organization in which the VI had not attended a Heads of Governments meeting in 5 years, has 15 members and 5 associate members.
The Caricom Member countries are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia; St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago
The CARICOM Associate Members are Anguilla, Bermuda, [British] Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands.
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