Pastor Claude O. Skelton-Cline during a special edition of Honestly Speaking on March 11, 2026. Photo: Facebook

The late Hon H. Lavity Stoutt, is the Virgin Islands' first Chief Minister and is credited as having the vision which shaped the modern Virgin Islands. Photo: Government of the Virgin Islands

During a special edition of Honestly Speaking on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, themed ‘Mindset Matters, Finding Solutions’, Skelton-Cliine said he recently rewatched the funeral service of the late H. Lavity Stoutt, the VI’s first Chief Minister in its entirety. 

“I was struck that since 1995, the truth is, this country [has] not seen a visionary leader since the late Lavity Stoutt.”

The late H. Lavity Stoutt is credited not just as a pioneer Virgin Islander, but also as the visionary whose vision helped shape the future of the VI. 

The 31st National Wreath Laying Ceremony at Cappoon’s Bay Cemetery on March 9, 2026, to honour the late Hon. H. Lavity Stoutt. 

A false state of comfort

“It begs to question, it’s a sobering thought, when you think of all the things that’s been built from the college, to social security, to the road that comes across the West, all into town, to what would have been secondary schools…the start of the Virgin Islands Party in 1971. All this under the leadership of Honourable Lavity Stoutt,” Skelton-Cline added.

He also warned that if the past is not remembered, there will be no resistance. 

“If you don’t know from whence you come, and who are some of the persons that helped us to get to where we are. When we disremember, then we no longer resist, and we are lulled into a false state of comfort and superficial convenience, and I’m afraid that that is a part of where we are today.”