‘We have fallen behind’; Expats will return home- Skelton-Cline
During his show on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, on ZBVI 780 AM, Skelton-Cline said development on other Caribbean islands has surpassed the VI.
Using Dominica’s international airport construction as an example, he said, “The good people in Dominica are building their airport, and China is involved, and they have a 24-hour operation in the construction [and] the development of the airport in Dominica.”
Skelton-Cline added that soon, a lot of the regional people who took up residence in the Virgin Islands will go back home.
“Because home is going to prove more economically efficient for them than the reasons why they moved here in the first place…because we’re running wild and we have fallen behind. We are falling behind.”
It should be noted, however, that the Government of the Virgin Islands is committed to expanding the airport runway and developing the terminal at Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport.
More than 70% of the workforce are expats
The latest statistics available from the Central Statistics Office are from 2023 and show that expats make up 73.1% of the workforce in the VI.
It is also estimated that about 21 nationalities were working in the VI, with most from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Jamaica, Guyana, the Dominican Republic and the Philippines.
Other nationalities with a sizable workforce come from Nigeria, other African, Central American and European Countries, as well as the Bahamas, Israel, Venezuela and the Middle East.
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29 Responses to “‘We have fallen behind’; Expats will return home- Skelton-Cline”
We will see a lot take place in 2026. It’s a coming together of things. Wait for it…
Expats aint going a dam place. Bitch now.
It is happening slowly.
Let people continue to chase people from here with their nationality racist comments .
We do not exist in a vacuum.
Moreover, Dominica building a modern international airport does not automatically equate to bustling economic success, resulting in the Diaspora in the BVI, racing back with Usain Bolt speed. An airport is but one factor in a locale growth and development. In time, perhaps, some will return. For example, the 1920s and 1930s, Virgin Islanders emigrated to Santo Domingo ( DR) to work in sugar cane industry. Nonetheless, being there was no picnic, facing racism, etc. Eventually, limit was placed on foreign workers, ending the the emigration. Nonetheless, the DR was not emptied of Virgin Islanders.The Virgin Islanders who remained in DR descendants are now emigrating into the BVI. Hear dis ya! Dominicans will not be racing out of the BVI in droves. Are Guyanese racing out the BVI, although on paper Guyana now is one of the wealthiest countries in the world?
Yes in the BVI we have certainly fallen behind, for many reasons, one of them is failing to call out our government and friends when they do sh**, for example look at what is currently happening over in the pier park. The only real piece of green space that was pleasantly pleasing is no longer because management allowed their friends to set up a non cultural skating rink on the lawn and completely kill the lawn. Those who gave the permission should no longer an employment at the Peir Park at the highest level. Now it costing the BVIpa and by extension the government and people of this country a fortune to replace, they are replacing with artificial grass or turf and environmental unfriendly products. Where there is no vision the people perish
DIFFERENT APPROACH , ON THEM " ISLAND PEOPLE " , AND AM SURE WHEN YO BOI PUT ON MEH MILLION DOLLAR SMILE , " THEM " BOUNG TO START SUPPORTING MEH BUSINESSES AGAIN ( and , ah may drop a Lil on the prices , to show my appreciation ) THEY DON'T CALL ME CITY SLICKER , 4 NUTTIN
NNNNNOOOOOOTTTTTT!!!!