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VI @ CARICOM meeting to ensure its voice ‘is both heard & supported'- Premier

- as CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting Opens in Montego Bay with Unity, Urgency, & Vision
Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) is attending the 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Montego Bay Jamaica. Photo: GIS/Facebook
Virgin Islands Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) meets the Incoming Caricom Chairman and host Prime Minister, Dr the Honourable Andrew M. Holness of Jamaica. Photo: GIS/Facebook
Virgin Islands Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) meets the Incoming Caricom Chairman and host Prime Minister, Dr the Honourable Andrew M. Holness of Jamaica. Photo: GIS/Facebook
The 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) officially opened on July 7, 2025, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Photo: GIS/Facebook
The 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) officially opened on July 7, 2025, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Photo: GIS/Facebook
The Honourable Mia A. Mottley, Prime Minister of the Republic of Barbados and outgoing chair of Caricom, addressed the gathering, passionately calling for deeper integration and solidarity across the region. Photo: GIS/Facebook
The Honourable Mia A. Mottley, Prime Minister of the Republic of Barbados and outgoing chair of Caricom, addressed the gathering, passionately calling for deeper integration and solidarity across the region. Photo: GIS/Facebook
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – The 49th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) officially opened on July 7, 2025, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, setting the tone for three days of high-level dialogue, collaboration, and strategic planning among leaders of the Caribbean.

The Opening Ceremony was a vibrant showcase of Jamaica’s cultural excellence and national pride, featuring performances by some of the country’s most celebrated artists and creatives. All 21 CARICOM Member States and Associate Members were represented, each bringing both gravitas and pageantry to the event.

‘Strategic opportunity for VI’- Premier

Virgin Islands Premier and Minister of Finance Dr the Honourable Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) is actively participating in plenary discussions scheduled throughout the summit.

In remarks prior to the formal sessions, Premier Wheatley noted that the CARICOM meeting “is a strategic opportunity for the Virgin Islands to deepen regional alliances and advance critical national interests.

“Tackling transnational crime and organised crime in the region to addressing environmental vulnerabilities, we are here to ensure the Virgin Islands’ voice is both heard and supported,” Premier Wheatley stated in a Government Information Service (GIS) press release.

Deeper regional integration & solidarity

Meanwhile, The Honourable Mia A. Mottley, Prime Minister of the Republic of Barbados and outgoing chair of Caricom, addressed the gathering, passionately calling for deeper integration and solidarity across the region. Prime Minister Mottley emphasised the urgent need to bridge gaps between member states in order to confront the evolving global landscape as a unified Caribbean bloc.

Incoming Caricom Chairman and host Prime Minister, Dr the Honourable Andrew M. Holness of Jamaica, systematically outlined the priorities he hoped to advance over the next 6 months. He addressed a range of critical challenges with a strong focus on public safety.

Prime Minister Holness also underscored the urgent need to dismantle criminal gang networks across Caribbean territories and spoke to the importance of regional cooperation on climate resilience, food security, and economic sustainability.

The 49th Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government runs from July 6–8, 2025, and will feature a packed agenda aimed at delivering real solutions to the region’s shared challenges.

9 Responses to “VI @ CARICOM meeting to ensure its voice ‘is both heard & supported'- Premier”

  • PURE HYPOCRISY (08/07/2025, 16:10) Like (4) Dislike (4) Reply
    HOW CAN WE CALL OUR OTHER AFRICAN DECENDANTS ( DEM ISLAND PEOPLE ) ALL THE TIME AND WHEN WE NEED YHEIR SUPPORT ( WE CHANGE THE NSME TO ( OUR CARIBBEAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS ❓️???? ) ARE THE OTHER CARIBBEAN COUNTTIES AWARE OF THESE EOLVES IN SHEEP 'S CLOTHING ❓️???? WD ALWAYS CALLING DOWN THE UK AS THE WHITE COLONIALIST SLAVE MASTERS FOR ALL THE ATTROCITIES YHAT THEY DID TO OUR ANCESTORS AND HERE WE ARE DOING THE VERY SSME THING TO OUR OWN CARIBBEAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THIS 21ST CENTURY / SO WHO ARE TRYING TO FOOL ❓️ ( POINTING OUR DIRTY FINGERS AT THE WHITE BOYZ ISN'T WORKING , WE CAN SEE FOR OURSELVES FROM YA'AL ACTIONS , HOW DECEPTIVE YA'AL ARE
    POIN
  • @PURE HYPOCRISY (08/07/2025, 19:15) Like (2) Dislike (2) Reply
    You had to jump in with your foolish venom give it a break this is bigger than you.
    • BuzzBvi (09/07/2025, 06:45) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
      Do you have any contribution to the points made in the comment or just Foolish Venom! You are hypoccrisy itself.

      The comment pretty much shines a light on how our leaders are behaving in their blind pursuit to Independence, so they can rule this much diminished Territory, without guardrails to protect the VI people from corruption and abuse of power.

  • RICHARD (08/07/2025, 21:37) Like (0) Dislike (6) Reply
    I love to see my premier on the world stage
  • misguided (09/07/2025, 05:44) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
    The ideals outlined by Mottley and Holness does not align with the ideal in the BVI. We have to interest in dismantling crime and we do not care about BVIslanders or island people and the accidental premier would be the first to tell you this. Everytime he gets a little heat he runs to caricom or the United Nations and what he wants the people of this territory do not want. He needs to go back to being the substitute teacher he once was, that is all he knows.
    • misguided (09/07/2025, 09:24) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
      Correction “ we have no interest in fighting crime.”

      None of the politicians in the Caribbean care about their people they only care about power. That’s why the greedy bill must be repealed.
  • @ PURE HYPOCRISY (09/07/2025, 07:38) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    BOI ~ THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE , FROM BOTH " MENTAL AND PHYSICAL SLAVERY / ITS OBVIOUS THAT YOU GOT TOUCHED ~ A GUILTY CONSCIENCE NEEDS NO ACCUSER ■ FREE YOUR YA'AL MINDS FROM THE (XENOPHOBIA THAT LIES WITHIN YOUR MINDS - BODIES AND SOULS , WE ARE IN THE 21ST CENTURY - HELLO ITS NOT ABOUT ME / ITS ABOUT THE MESSAGE / NOW TAKE A LOOK IN THE MIRROR - HEATHEN
  • resident (09/07/2025, 09:01) Like (52) Dislike (0) Reply
    b.s, he's there for the travel, dude spends more time away from the bvi than here, i am actually surprised when i read that he is in the territory and he brings back no good ideas, no funds from any of these organizations, it's a waste of time and our money
  • Really? (09/07/2025, 09:10) Like (21) Dislike (0) Reply
    And he is off to another meeting where he will smile and rub elbows with the powerhouses of the Caribbean, smile and take photos for his family album, come home and plan his Festival parties, until his NEXT departure to another “meeting” when he would have learned nothing and implemented nothing. And we will be right back in the same whole that we have always been in watching him smile and wave as he heads off to another “meeting” that he has convinced himself will better our lives. Sighhhhh. What really is the point of voting if we STILL can’t get things done in this country???


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