Governor of the Virgin Islands, His Excellency Mr. John S. Duncan, OBE has stated that a focused and structured approach is needed to fill local talent at the most senior levels in Government.

 The Governor at a recent press briefing to mark two years in office, shared his experience of how the South Atlantic Territories were able to fill its senior positions, once held almost exclusively by expatriates, with local talent after 20 years.

“This was the result of a focused effort, to identify the future needs of the economy, to ensure that local young people were encouraged to gain the appropriate qualifications, and long-term mentoring and succession planning. My experience of the past two years in the BVI, shows me that our approach has been insufficiently rigorous and structured,” he said.

The Governor urged the Minister for Education and Culture and the new Deputy Governor to give this area an even higher priority and was encouraged by their shared view of the importance of this issue.

His Excellency commented on the appointments of the senior positions in the Public Service, sharing that nine positions have already, or will shortly change.

He said, “Sometimes this has been because after many years of dedicated service it was the natural time for people to move on; in other instances senior officers decided to take time out to pursue further professional development and to return in due course even better able to serve our community, and I very much applaud that; but in other cases I was not satisfied that the best interests of the Territory were being served by those officers remaining in post.”

Governor Duncan outlined that his vision is for the local community to take responsibility for its future and added that he favors the appointments of local individuals to exercise that responsibility at senior levels.

He said this needs to be balanced with consideration of the needs of the Territory as a modern developed economy and society. Bringing in expatriates to senior positions is not at all unusual.

The Governor further added that decisions on senior appointments are based on the recommendations of the Public Service Commission, the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, and the Police Service Commission, whose membership is almost exclusively made up of Virgin Islanders.  

The Governor is constitutionally responsible for the public service while the day to day management of the public service is delegated to the Deputy Governor.