Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline has accused big supermarkets, like Rite Way, of cannibalising the market, competitng with locally owned businesses in the retail space. Photo: Rite Way

Social commentator Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline has once again brought the current cost of living in the Virgin Islands (VI) into the spotlight, calling the system rigged. Photo: Facebook

Speaking during his radio show, Honestly Speaking, on Tuesday, July 29, 2026, a frustrated Skelton-Cline blamed the lack of proper legislation for the current state of the cost of living. While on previous shows, he cast blame on Junior Minister for Trade and Economic Development, Hon Lorna G. Smith (AL), OBE, for dismantling the Trade Commission, he said on Tuesday that the issues with consumer protection rights date back to the late Hon Ralph T. O’Neil administration. 

“It intensified under Dr D Orlando Smith's government. It perpetuated through successive governments,” he added. 

Cannibalising of the markets

Skelton-Cline opined that big companies, such as RiteWay and Sunoco, have been allowed to have the monopoly on food and fuel, as they sell wholesale and compete with the smaller companies that buy from them in the retail market as well. 

“The only reason why these monopolies, and you've got to call it what it is, can continue to do what they do is because elected officials have refused to do what is right to protect you and I as citizens in this country. So they cannibalise…They wipe out the small and middle mom-and-pop shop companies. That's what they do. They end up closing.”

He reminded people that RiteWay promised better prices when they came over to the Virgin Islands, something that their customers have yet to see reflected on the shelves. 

“It is wrong, it is immoral, it is unethical, and that’s why ain’t no change for the cost of living in this country…they’re eating us up, they’re eating us for lunch, for breakfast, for dinner; and they’re not concerned about us. The only thing they’re concerned about is their shareholders.”

Skelton-Cline asked where the benefit to the citizens of the VI is.

“What makes the Virgin Islands unique is that the local population can be owners and determiners of their own fate and destinies in the marketplace…the violation is intensifying.”

The system is rigged

Quoting US President Donald J. Trump, Skelton-Cline said, “The whole damn system is rigged. It’s a rigged system. It’s not designed to set us free; it’s not designed for our economic empowerment. It is designed for us to remain subservient…We are being taken advantage of.”

He again accused the current government and previous governments of remaining silent instead of protecting consumers. “How the hell are you going to grant an overall general license? So now we have a situation with this multinational company out of Canada, owning RiteWay monopoly. Then we have Sunoco, owning Delta, owning Sol, owning Peerless in Puerto Rico, where everybody now gotta buy their fuel, their diesel from this one company, monopoly.”

The clergyman said church folks are still telling people to “declare and decree” they are millionaires, but questioned the reality behind it. “How the hell you going to be a millionaire…how you going to do it, when the system is rigged against you?”

People, he said, are eagerly awaiting their salaries so that they can meet their financial obligations and feed their families. 

“This ain’t no joke out here. And the whole system is rigged against you, and nobody will tell you the honest truth. And you know why they won’t tell you the truth? Because a lot of them have a vested interest in the system remaining the way it is.”