Today marks the beginning of Public Service Excellence Award initiative. This programme is a new and improved form of what was known as the Employee of the Quarter Award.

It is a great pleasure for me, as your Governor, to hand over the Certificates of Naturalisation to a total of 48 people who have made their homes in the Virgin Islands.  Today is your day, marking a key milestone in your quest for British Citizenship.  Many of you will have harboured this ambition for years.  I hope and imagine that all of you are feeling a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in attaining this citizenship status, conferring as it does the right to carry a BVI passport and to apply for a full British passport.

On behalf of the Premier of the Virgin Islands, Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE who is away on official business, I am delighted to be among the first to officially congratulate you on becoming British Overseas Territories Citizens.

In the last quarter of 2013, I informed you of the launch of a public consultation on beneficial ownership of companies registered here in the British Virgin Islands. I am pleased to report that this consultation is complete. This consultation was in response to a policy proposed by the Government of the United Kingdom to maintain a central registry in which information on the ultimate beneficial ownership of companies would be held. The UK Government’s desire is to see this policy adopted in the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom. 

On behalf of the Department of Agriculture, I wish to express our sincerest apologies to farmers, stakeholders, members of the Anegada community, and the wider Virgin Islands community for the inconvenience caused in postponing this morning’s annual Farmers’ Week Prize Giving Ceremony and Exhibition.

The postponement was as a result of technical difficulties experienced by the ferry.  

We would like to inform the public that the ceremony and exhibition are now scheduled for Wednesday, February 4 at 11:00 a.m.

The only constant in this life is change, there are times and seasons and I’m sure most of you know that the good book says there is a time for everything.

Good morning:

When I first heard of this year’s theme for Farmers’ Week: ‘Youth in Agriculture a Must – Food Security and Cultural Sustainability - a Plus’,” I was quite pleased.

You see, the theme continuously reflect my Government’s position in building a sustainable agricultural sector, and the importance of our young people in doing so.

Workshop on the use of the Ocean Health Index in the Virgin Islands

Ladies and gentlemen of the media, good afternoon and happy New Year to you.

This afternoon, I want to use this opportunity to talk to you about some major highlights of the past year, but equally about this Government’s plans for the year ahead.

Last year was one of hard work that paid off.  Indeed our success was guided by seven broad priority areas:

Christmas is special time of year. It is a time where Christians across the world celebrate of the birth of Jesus Christ. A time when families and friends from all parts of society gather together to reaffirm those special human ties that bind us together.