VG ready for a Town Council- Vincent O. Wheatley
“In Virgin Gorda there is even talk of forming like a town council, because they want to be involved in decisions about where the community is going to be 4 or 5 years from now,” said Sister Islands Coordinator and Virgin Gorda resident Mr Vincent O. Wheatley, while a guest on the Honestly Speaking show, that was guest-hosted by Mr Gerard St C. Farara and aired Tuesday 23, 2018 on ZBVI 780 AM.
It was former Permanent Secretary, businessman and political aspirant, Mr Julian Willock who suggested that sister islands have town councils, while a guest of the online radio show, Fresh Radio Vybz with Paul A. Peart aka ‘Gadiethz’, on November 29, 2017.
Referring to the sister island of Virgin Gorda Mr Willock said, “They were [ignored] before and now it is even worse. We have to look at getting some sort of town council on Virgin Gorda, maybe Anegada and Jost van Dyke, where these town councils are empowered with a budget so that the sister islands feel a more part of our development."
VG demonstrates readiness for Town Council- Wheatley
In describing the recovery and development post Irma, Mr Wheatley explained how the members of Virgin Gorda rallied together and supported each other, forming and having regular community meetings.
Those meetings organised much needed community aid that were collected, and disseminated to benefit residents of the island and chartered the development course they would like for their beloved community.
“The sense of community is really strong. The sense of independence is really strong and the sense of ownership of Virgin Gorda is really strong within the Virgin Gorda community,” Mr Wheatley stated.
Many on Virgin Gorda already have the general idea as to what will help to develop and restore the island. There is even plans to begin community meetings in February that are geared towards educating residents on preparedness planning for the upcoming hurricane season.
“In the community they have a really good sense of where they want to be in a year. You are not going to come and tell us, they can tell you very articulately and very clearly, here is where we think we need to be going forward. They are not shy about it anymore,” Mr Wheatley added.
Virgin Gorda covers an area of about 8 square miles (21 km2), making it the third-largest (after Tortola and Anegada) and second most populous of the [British] Virgin Islands.
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18 Responses to “VG ready for a Town Council- Vincent O. Wheatley”
Stop crying town council and cry better understanding of issues in order to make a decision to whom to vote for. Also the financial system on the disbursement of money to representatives and the system within public works and the ministry needs to be overhauled.
Everybody wants power one way or the other. If you are not pleased form a delegation and see the representative and the premier. But the problem as usual is people coming together and staying together for a common cause that takes courage to stand. Town council you already have a representative.
Instead, he is proposing a community town council. The town council could be an organization for the community at the grass root level to organize, develop community needs and communicate with and provide input to elected officials. It should have defined roles and responsibilities and must be transparent and accountable. The town council can be allocated a small budget to take care of some basic needs, ie street sweeping, landscaping.......etc. Moreover, it can be a training opportunity for the pursuit of elected and appointed office. Town councils should be afforded to all districts. The community/stakeholders must have input on community needs. Community should not be force fed with what others outside the community think they need. Programme success comes with community input, embrace and ownership.
VIP please count them 2 seats, take that to the BANK
Anegada rather stand alone like we always do rather than have a poser / imposter like him
We will survive ... District 10 is who we are... who don't know... will know
Anegada doesn't need people like you all who can't even make it here once a quarter