Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, Honourable Vincent Wheatley is away from the Territory attending the 2021 United Nations climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12.

The BVI-USVI Vaccination Bubble Initiative has been revamped to accommodate the large number of persons still interested in another option besides the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Virgin Islands Shipping Registry (VISR) is in the process of developing a Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) with assistance by AMP Global Strategies.

The deadline for qualified persons to submit applications for membership to the Physical Planning Authority and the Physical Planning Appeals Tribunal respectively has been extended to November 14, 2021.

Improved partnership and a stronger ability to respond to major storms is expected after a table-top hurricane exercise brought together key members of the National Emergency Operations Centre and members of the Royal Navy Caribbean Task Force.

The Land and Marine Estate Policy will serve as the framework to resolve the issues of land distribution and the claims of ancestral lands in Anegada.

The Department of Culture is preparing to celebrate the second annual Culture and Tourism Month in November under the theme “Our Heritage, our People, our Cultural Arts! When Culture meets Tourism, we Capture all Hearts.”

A search is underway for Mr. Sem Duverval of Haiti who escaped detention between the late hours of Saturday, October 23 and early Sunday, October 24.

The new Marine Estate Administration Policy has now been updated and published.

Deputy Governor, Mr. David Archer, Jr. will act in the Office of Governor from October 24  to  November 1 in the absence of His Excellency the Governor, Mr. John J. Rankin, CMG who will be out of the Territory.