Opportunities should be reserved for us -Umoja
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.”
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