Hon Fraser laments VI’s absence @ CARICOM summit
The CARICOM Headquarters in Guyana had informed Virgin Islands News Online that the Virgin Islands was not invited to the meeting since it was not an Independent Member state.
“No, because none of the Associate Members are Independent and do not participate in foreign relations activities in the Caribbean Community. So none of the Associate Members or Montserrat would have been present at the meeting today,” Mr Leonard Robertson, Adviser, Public Information Unit, of CARICOM said.
The VI is an Associate Member of CARICOM, along with Anguilla, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos Islands and Cayman Islands.
Observer status
Speaking on the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) radio show, ‘Let’s Talk’, on April 15, 2015 on ZBVI 780AM, Hon Fraser said even though the Virgin Islands was not an invited as an Independent Member state it should have pushed to be represented at the meeting on observer status.
“I am of the view that something went awry as far as that is concerned. If the Virgin Islands is indeed a part of CARICOM we should have been represented at that meeting. Now people might want to say and slap it off by saying that we are not a full member of CARICOM or that we are not Independent but there are ways in which participation can be met.
I fully believe there is such a thing as observer status and the leaders of the CARICOM nations must know that the Virgin Islands do exist. That we are not taken for granted,” Hon Fraser argued.
VI must pay attention to international affairs
According to the long serving legislator whom political pundits have been labelling as the Premier in waiting, the battle for a successful survival of the Virgin Islands is not going to be fought on the soils of the Virgin Islands but on the international scene, “whether we talking from a political standpoint, regional or economic standpoint, internationally or globally, but in order for us to be successful at these battles we have to tackle from every front.”
“A lot of things happen at these summits, a lot of things that you don’t see, a lot of things that you don’t hear about. In the run up these summits a lot of negotiations take place, meetings are established, and it doesn’t mean that you would have a meeting at the highest level. I don’t for one moment suggest that the Premier was going to meet with the President of the United States but there are so many other agencies in the United States and so many other offices that you never know. That is where agreements are met, negotiations take place and contacts are established.”
Hon Fraser said he honestly believes it would have been a significant achievement on the part of the Virgin Islands to have been represented at a forum like the recent CARICOM Summit in Jamaica.
He was also frank in saying he would have never expected in the history of these islands that such a momentous occasion would have occurred and the Virgin Islands was not represented.
“I would urge our Premier to not do it alone but to get together with the other OTs and make sure that they understand exactly what took place. It cannot continue this way. We are a significant player in this region. If you don’t believe me just look around [because] the demographics of the Virgin Islands speak for that. We have people from every island in the Caribbean living in the Virgin Islands here, happily, in peace and in harmony, with all of us and this is something that we cherish and we cannot afford to allow ourselves to be taken for granted.”
VI snubbing unacceptable
According to Hon Fraser, the Virgin Islands has to let the Caribbean region know that it being snubbed at the CARICOM Summit is not acceptable and “I would present that going forward any leader of this Virgin Islands would make sure that it stops, and it has to stop.”
The Virgin Islands is one of the first non-independent countries to join the Caribbean Community as an Associate Member. It did so on July 2, 1991 under a then Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Government.
Meanwhile, the regional leaders met on April 8, 2015 in Caucus, before the meeting with President Obama, with leaders such as Trinidad and Tobago’s Kamala Persad Bissessar, Barbados’ Freundel Stuart, Dominica’s Roosevelt Skerritt, St Kitts and Nevis’ Dr Timothy S. Harris and the host country’s Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller among others.
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27 Responses to “Hon Fraser laments VI’s absence @ CARICOM summit”
When Obama was in Trinidad in 2009 did VIP go? We cannot just invite ourselves to meetings and BVI were not the only ones that were not there. We are not full members of CARICOM, just associate members.
1. Which government hates press freedom?
Which government is full of corruption?-two reports
Which government only cares for the rich and hates the middle class and the poor
Which government continues to engage in conflict of interest?
Which government is desperate to say in power like…Robert Mugabe?
Which government has divided the country like Mugabe? And counties to chase away businesses they do not like?
Which government engages in sexual harassment and killing our treasury with questionable spending….OK like me stop there
Another example the NDP and their paid bloggers have not a clue of regional or international issues…Fool the meeting in TT was an OAS meeting not a Caribbean meeting. The BVi is not a associated member of the OAS but are of CARICOM…set of jack @$$3$ on here ….the faster we get rid of the ndp the sooner we could be respected abroad…
Please give me a break....the only person who could have conceivable gone and represented the BVI is the queen's representative on island the Governor in any observer status.
I cant understand why the hoppla since all of the other associated non-independent members were not invited and didn't not attend.......Your not Independent....your not invited.....can you say not wanted there.....NOT WANTED OR NEEDED THERE.....I don't hear any noise from the rest of the associated members, soooooo why the drama?
The VI stands out and is above all that in a class at the top.