Got TIPS or BREAKING NEWS? Please call 1-284-442-8000 direct/can also WhatsApp same number or Email ALL news to:newsvino@outlook.com;                               ads call 1-284-440-6666

‘It’s ignorance’ I. Fletcher Scatliffe clear the air on stay @ Sports Complex

-says people need to speak with knowledge & not rumours
Irvine Fletcher Scatliffe (right), well-known local resident and former talk show host cleared the air on his five-month stay at the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex at the time being used as a shelter following the 2017 Hurricanes of Irma and Maria with Claude O. Skelton-Cline (left), former Managing Director of BVI Port Authority (BVIPA) and social commentator. Photo: Facebook
Following the hurricanes of September 2017, the Multi-purpose Sports Complex was being used as a shelter for persons that lost their homes during the hurricane. However, on March 27, 2018 some 18 persons were relocated to another shelter in Long Trench, on the main island of Tortola. Photo: VINO/File
Following the hurricanes of September 2017, the Multi-purpose Sports Complex was being used as a shelter for persons that lost their homes during the hurricane. However, on March 27, 2018 some 18 persons were relocated to another shelter in Long Trench, on the main island of Tortola. Photo: VINO/File
Inside the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex on March 27, 2018 after occupants of the shelter were relocated. Photo: VINO/File
Inside the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex on March 27, 2018 after occupants of the shelter were relocated. Photo: VINO/File
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI - Irvine Fletcher Scatliffe, well-known local resident and former talk show host has cleared the air on his five-month stay at the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex at the time being used as a shelter following the 2017 Hurricanes of Irma and Maria.

Misinformation spread over the past months about his stay there and his alleged refusal to leave the building despite requests from the Government.

Mr Scatliffe said his experience there was "a good one" as he was able to see firsthand "other cultures and how they live and behave". He was at the time speaking on the radio programme Honestly Speaking aired on ZBVI 780 AM on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, hosted by former Managing Director of BVI Port Authority (BVIPA) and social commentator, Claude O. Skelton-Cline.

"I had an official role at the shelter" - Irvine Fletcher Scatliffe

Despite the rumours as to why he was at the Road Town Multi-Purpose Sports Complex, Mr Scatliffe told the host that his role there was as the Assistant Shelter Manager and he had to remain at the sports complex "to make sure there was order".

He said, "I was there because I had to be there and because the new manager could not be there at nights -she had books to mark- I was placed in that position having to be there." 

Mr Scatliffe said the public needed to be more helpful and positive to people who find themselves in the shelter as “none of them wanted to be there, everybody wanted to have their own privacy, and could not wait to leave".

The former voice of farmers said: "They were trying to make the issue about me, and why I was there.” Mr Scatliffe said he has a big house with 4 bathrooms. "Where I live is a palace, but I was there offering community service.”

Government broke

When asked by the host Mr Skelton-Cline why the government is the least resilient he responded by saying, "They do not have the money to do anything.” He said he knows of a situation where a young man had to drop out school because Government could not afford to pay their portion of his scholarship, he added: “That is a shame.”

He lambasted Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith (AL) for saying information about the bill [Virgin Islands Recovery and Development Agency Act 2018] was "confidential”. He said passionately, "Dr Smith did the same thing over BVI Airways, and that is not right. The public has a right to know."

Mr Scatliffe said, “An uninformed community is an ignorant community” while adding that when you hide information from the community "something is wrong".

Responding to a question posed by Mr Skelton-Cline, Mr Scatliffe stated that he supports a Freedom of Information Act and a Consumer Protection Bill.

Where is the consumer protection bill?

In addition, Mr Scatliffe said from the time he was an infant the people have been "crying for a Consumer Protection Bill", and the people who we elect refused to put it in place but warned even if the Bill is passed "these fellows will still refuse to give us information".

Mr Skelton-Cline stated he will be a voice for the people and he will air on the side of the people, and he is "not protecting any banks, any insurance companies, or any government this one or the other".

20 Responses to “‘It’s ignorance’ I. Fletcher Scatliffe clear the air on stay @ Sports Complex”

  • Jeeze (11/04/2018, 16:36) Like (17) Dislike (145) Reply
    I live in a 4 bathroom palace. Well good for you. What arrangance.
  • Serious (11/04/2018, 17:02) Like (25) Dislike (14) Reply

    You should be shame of your self. You know how much it costs tax payers to have you and the others there. You got away with it because you are big bad Fletcher from Road Town. If it was country, east or west end folks were doing that B.s they would have been arrested, charge and be forcefully remove long time . You all playing games with this country but people are really hurting. I bet you if some disease had outbreak every last one of you all who stayed there would have found some place to go.

  • Tell the Truth Please (11/04/2018, 17:11) Like (25) Dislike (6) Reply

    Fletcher not telling the truth. He was not there to oversee nothing. Fletcher just ignorant and out of place.

    • MANUP (11/04/2018, 18:18) Like (22) Dislike (3) Reply
      Fletcher had bad motives for being there. He was no assistant shelter manager. He was there because he wanted to eventually go on radio. He was not in need of shelter as he correctly said that his house only sustained minor damage and is has 4 bedrooms each with it's own bathroom. He is nothing but a confusionist who in very stubborn. He had no interest in the others who were there but now that he is in the spotlight he wants to give you the impression that he was so caring.BS.
  • A shelter Manager (11/04/2018, 17:25) Like (15) Dislike (7) Reply
    Pls sir make sure you volunteer once again for the upcoming season.People will talk as i too was wondering why you wish to stay there but some people dont know the importance and the role as such.As a man it is more fitting for you than a woman unless she is housed there.i volunteered but only visited early mornings or late afternoons.it aint easy it can be very stressful at times. The more people in a centre the more worriation less people less stress. May God see us thru this next season. May you continue to assist where possible and God bless you.
  • Really (11/04/2018, 17:57) Like (26) Dislike (6) Reply
    Ok, maybe with that 4.bedroom palace, you could accommodate a few instead of.having there at the.complex
    • @Really (11/04/2018, 21:53) Like (5) Dislike (4) Reply
      Exactly. If so cared and wanted to help he could have extended a stay to those who he thought was fit to stay at his house.
  • 911 (11/04/2018, 18:03) Like (7) Dislike (7) Reply
    set the record straight brother
  • vex (11/04/2018, 18:47) Like (9) Dislike (12) Reply
    she how they like to jump based on gossip while the man was working
  • Read (11/04/2018, 19:40) Like (5) Dislike (4) Reply
    Hope bone crusher reads this
  • wize up (11/04/2018, 20:11) Like (7) Dislike (17) Reply
    yea Claude-you run things
  • Wow Wow Wow (11/04/2018, 21:34) Like (14) Dislike (2) Reply
    It's a shame to hear the way in which our own people talk about Fletcher and the others in the center because if you knew fletcher he paid taxes in this country snd the others there are tax payers and the building was paid for with taxpayers money and I don't care what you had before the hurricane or after the hurricane every one needed help but in this country there is not much thinking people at all ,all you people do is bring your brothers and sisters down to their knees in the worst of times just when they need you most ,and you said that it cost tax payers money to have them there but the center was running and costing you over $120,000.00 per year just in electricity before the hurricane now the air condition is gone and the floor is gone now tax payers will have a break from paying for something that does not make any sense and now that the poor homeless people are out of there let's see how soon repairs will be made I am so ashame of these people in this place who think they are somebody bigger than the poor ones who are less fortunate but always remember we do not control life and living it's beyond our control
    • English Teacher (12/04/2018, 12:55) Like (1) Dislike (2) Reply
      Wow Wow Wow, just reading your post hurts my brain to the point where my head started pulsing.

      By the time I hit the 5th or 6th line I could not take it any more and stopped reading.
  • thats right (12/04/2018, 11:16) Like (11) Dislike (1) Reply
    Tell them, Fletcher. They cannot beat you...some of them jealous because you have a big house, but as you say, it was a good experience for you to be at the shelter among the others...if it was good enough for them, why shouldn't it be good enough for you?
    You always been a community-minded person who never isolate yourself from the people....a big house didn't keep you away from an opportunity to mix and mingle with the less fortunate. There's a lesson in that for some of these pious self-righteous people around who think they better than anybody else. Erma brought all to the same level. Let them take your stay at the Complex as an example that one day, the good, the bad and the ugly will end up in the same hell, if they do not repent. Amen
  • just asking... (12/04/2018, 16:06) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    now that the people are out will they fix the place?
  • Truth or fiction? (12/04/2018, 17:55) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    Fletch, now that you are out you're trying to look good. You know you held no post of any kind! Please stop misleading people. I beg and plead with you - don't bring anymore shame on yourself and family! You are going to force the hands of those who know the truth to bring your story out in the open. You have started the ball rolling.
  • dude (13/04/2018, 12:42) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    Can we play ball in there now? We were moved from the area in 2002 and told we would get a gym then we were never allowed to use it. It's been 16yrs now can we finally get to use it for basketball as was promised to us? Concrete courts are bad for our bones and health we need a wood floor. Have a heart.
  • tola (17/04/2018, 16:49) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    them say he was there minding people business and causing confusion. Don't mind him with his lies


Create a comment


Create a comment

Disclaimer: Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) welcomes your thoughts, feedback, views, bloggs and opinions. However, by posting a blogg you are agreeing to post comments or bloggs that are relevant to the topic, and that are not defamatory, liable, obscene, racist, abusive, sexist, anti-Semitic, threatening, hateful or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be excluded permanently from making contributions. Please view our declaimer above this article. We thank you in advance for complying with VINO's policy.

Follow Us On

Disclaimer: All comments posted on Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) are the sole views and opinions of the commentators and or bloggers and do not in anyway represent the views and opinions of the Board of Directors, Management and Staff of Virgin Islands News Online and its parent company.