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Opportunities should be reserved for us -Umoja

- Poor management of immigration process which leads to division and marginalization
August 26th, 2012 | Tags: Umoja Natalio Wheatley cromwell smith
Umoja hosts Smith and Wheatley, feel that there is division and marginalization in our society as a result of the poor immigration process in place. Photo: VINO
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – The hosts of the Umoja radio show believe that the immigration process has not been managed as effectively as it could be; this is according to co-host Natalio Wheatley aka Sowande Uhuru.

Speaking on the weekly programme Umoja which was aired on a local radio station on August 23, 2012, host Cromwell Smith aka Edju En Ka, voiced his agreement with his co-host, by saying that “we are allowing persons to come from wherever they come from and take advantage of the opportunities that should be preserved for us.” 

Both Wheatley and Smith felt that this ultimately created division within the society. 

Wheatley expressed that the immigration process for this territory has been managed awfully. He felt that the majority have come to these islands and made valid or positive contribution but not all as the case should be.   

Sowande, in expounding on his point, said that Virgin Islanders should not be displaced in the job arena, particularly in the financial services sector. He continued by saying that the government has not protected the private industry or Virgin Islanders in the private industry as they should.

Smith concluded that the government was not enforcing the transfer of skills with businesses laying off locals after having trained foreign workers. This he felt, allowed businesses here to outsource their work to foreigners after they went back to their homeland, often to the detriment of the local workers who were being marginalized. 

“The government is getting involved in projects, allowing developers and businesses to come in to give local businesses unfair competition,” Smith asserted. He felt that [locals] were not allowed to participate in partnerships and profits derived from the utilization of our local resources. 

“There is a law that is supposed to protect BV Islanders,” he noted. This is supposed to be enforced at the Ministers’ discretion but is not being done for the most part but allows them to make decisions subjectively.  Putting all factors together he expressed, makes us have a “right to be afraid of Independence.” 

As a result of this he felt we were saying “we can’t trust ourselves to govern ourselves”. 

The hosts also discussed the concept of having a national conversation on independence or self-determination and whether BV Islanders were truly ready to enter into that realm. Wheatley felt that having a conversation, in essence, is different from actively approaching the objective of gaining independence in itself. 

Smith argued that there is nothing wrong with having a conversation. If we didn’t have a conversation about the issue now, he questioned when we would truly be able to do so. 

“When are we going to start preparing?” Smith asked. If the opportunity [to become independent] arose, we need to be ready for it “if and when it becomes necessary.”

13 Responses to “Opportunities should be reserved for us -Umoja”

  • john public (26/08/2012, 09:38) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    mayson ayo go cool out with this independent thing
    • cnn (26/08/2012, 17:21) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      I agree with Doug only indigenous BV Islanders must decide on independence so that rules out Mark, Myron and Archie!!!
  • kkk (26/08/2012, 09:53) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    I do not want to hear ah ting from punchee. One time he saying we locals must deny our indigenous roots and now he saying opportunities must be left for us…two faced.
  • Big bird (26/08/2012, 10:13) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Can anyone tell me why this topic was only now being an issue for some???
  • Confucius (26/08/2012, 13:41) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    How many of the jobs held by Virgin Islanders (outside of government) are available through companies not owned by Virgin Islanders? Outsiders brought the offshore financial services industry to the BVI. I would be interested to know "who" has kept ANY British Virgin Islanders from establishing their own financial services businesses? The only opportunities British Virgin Islanders are denied, are those we have not established for ourselves! I certainly agree that Virgin Islanders should not be DISPLACED by outsiders ~ but what have we done to establish businesses for ourselves in the financial services sector or any other industry? One of our elected officials recently stated that we are being kept out of the yachting sector. Where are the locally owned charter companies then? What is stopping our people from establishing their own charter companies, operated 100% by Virgin Islanders? If we are to take advantage of our own natural resources, surely the lucrative yachting industry should be the first place to start! My son, who went through the KATS programme from start to finish, plans to do just that. Why shouldn't he? He sails very, very well and is currently away at school taking a business course. When he comes back and gets another 5 or 6 years of work experience under his belt, he wants to start his own company. At that time, he will be looking for qualified riggers, certified marine mechanics, cleaning staff, management and office staff, salespeople, briefers, etc. He will also be looking for yacht owners to put their yachts under his management. He has already stated he wants to hire BVIslanders. The question is, how many will be interested enough in the industry to apply for a position and how many will be sufficiently qualified to do so? Do people believe he should spend his time and money to train our people after he has taken the time and trouble to train himself since he was 8 years old? Or ~ should he be free to hire the most suitable candidates? He is a young man who knows what he wants and has diligently set his sights on this particular goal. Since he was very young, he has wanted to own and operate his own charter company. He spent the last three summers working in the industry as a dock hand. He has worked for outsiders who have welcomed him and done everything in their power to be supportive of his efforts. Next summer he will be working in the office, learning the ins and outs first hand in regards to the business side of things. Who exactly is displacing us or keeping any of us from establishing our own businesses?
  • Diaspora (26/08/2012, 14:05) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    On the independence issue, I agree with both Sowande and Edju en Ka that a discussion on independence may be needed. How would the BVI know if it is in its best interest if the pros and cons of it are not policy fully aired and discussed. As Sowande noted, discussion and actively pursuing independence are mutually exclusive. On the issue of ineffectiveness of Immigration, I'm not sure that all the blame can be heaped on the Immigration Department. The failures can be attributed to total system failure, poor national planning, political interferences, greed, shortsightness.........etc. Non holistic approach to managing our Immigration policy. Immigration is not without blame though. Recently it has been wining too much about not having enough resources to do the job. Well, here is well kept secret, it will never have all the resources it thinks it needs. The new normal is doing more with less; this applies not only to Immigration but also the rest of government. By the way, Immigration is not the only department that wining about lack of resources. If the BVI government had all the resources it needs, it would not need as many managers. Anyway, this rant aside, lets focus on the real issue that put us in this pickle of pitting locals vs expats. Starting from the mid 1960's, the BVI' s economy grew and it experienced significant economic growth. But as E. Leonard noted in response to Sowande's view on the value of education to self-determination, economic growth was not ineffectively transformed into economic development. Specifically, the BVI failed to effectively train and educate locals to ride the crest of the wave in the growing economy. Instead, this failure placed too many Virgin Islanders in the trough of the economic growth wave. Consequently, this failure resulted in a shortage and scarcity of skiils to meet the growing demand and necessitating the lmportation of labour. Was the importation of labour managed effectively? Probably not. So we should not blame expats for the poor planning and execution of labour laws. I agree that BVISlanders should have protection and receive preferential treatment for employment. This is a practice that is employed from Jamaica to Barbados to Trinidad & Tobago to the Bahamas. Nonetheless, BVIslanders need to meet the qualifications to take advantage of the protection and preferential treatment.
  • shelia (26/08/2012, 16:33) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    “There is a law that is supposed to protect BV Islanders,” but you done know no one cares about those people. Remember they are not even allowed to claim their roots and heritage by tracing there parents and grandparents to determine if they are indigenous or not!!! Cromwell cannot have his cake and what to eat it!!!!
  • Crud (26/08/2012, 21:54) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    This is bare ignorance. What is crippling this country is the psycho-socialisation of BVIslanders that tells them that everything should be handed to them on a silver platter. That philosophy cannot sustain any people because it is in direct opposition to the laws of nature...it may last for a time but is bound to cause the inevitable failure of the nation.
  • egg face (26/08/2012, 23:24) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Very interesting statement but Mr. Smith done lost his credibility with me on the indigenous thing!
  • Protection (27/08/2012, 17:49) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Job displacement is a labor department issue not immigration as it is labor who approve all non BVIslander jobs ( Immigration only refuse entry for these labor approved jobs based on criminal/legal grounds). Our trade department plays a vital role in ultimately preventing a possible division within the society by protecting the right to local business ownership and trade.Possibly new trade licenses applications should be advertised before approval is just handed over to non BVIslanders. Why approve trade licenses to International retail business to come and compete with all the little local shops as was planned for our own cruise ship dock? Just as we have the labor law to protect the workers we must have a trade law to protect the local traders.When BVIslanders own their businesses( means of production and trade) then Independance can be a reality and therefore easy to attain and maintain.
  • BVEye (27/08/2012, 21:24) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Confucius and Crud, you dead right. And yes, Sowande, let we talk about Independence and maybe we'll start to understand that it would make us one of the smallest and - guaranteed - the weakest nation on Earth. Better the UK sell us to the US than independence.


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