Greetings to all. Tuesday afternoon I convened a meeting of the National Emergency Operations Centre’s operations group so that Territory leadership, including myself and the Deputy Premier, could receive a full briefing on the expectations for Potential Tropical Cyclone 9 and strategise how to enact our final preparations for that system.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to take few moments to remind all Virgin Islanders and residents to continue to be vigilant in keeping ahead of the curve as it relates to a weather system that is under development in our region.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring to this Honourable House's attention, that earlier today the Caribbean lost one of its great former leaders.

Greetings to all in these Virgin Islands.

Many of us were jolted out of a Sunday routine by a 4.03 magnitude earthquake. The final report from Territory partners at the Puerto Seismic Network indicates that the centre of the earthquake was approximately 32 kilometres north of Road Town, or approximately 20 miles away, and that the strongest shaking was felt by persons on the island of Virgin Gorda.

Honourable Premier, our people of all these Virgin Islands;

Last evening I provided an update on the community quarantine and testing intervention that had been implemented on Jost Van Dyke as a precautionary measure against COVID-19.

Good day and God’s Blessing to all of you who are watching or listening to your Government’s latest update on COVID-19. 

Fellow Virgin Islanders, residents and friends, good evening. I am pleased to bring you another COVID-19 report and update you on the ongoing community quarantine and testing intervention on the island of Jost Van Dyke. 

Mister Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to update the people of the Virgin Islands on the plans for a 2020 Emancipation Festival.  Many persons in the community have been questioning whether this would ever be a reality due to the complications caused by COVID-19.  I can reassure the fine people of this Territory that there will never be a time while I am sitting in this Ministerial seat that we will not celebrate our emancipation from slavery in some way, shape, or form.  Our ancestors worked too hard for too long and went through too much to be ignored.

Mister Speaker while there are many ongoing projects within the Ministry of Transportation, Works and Utilities, today I will like to highlight an issue of great concern of mine; Mister Speaker that is the huge outstanding bill that I met at the Ministry.

Mr. Speaker, in fulfillment of our commitment to keep the community informed and updated on COVID-19 developments, as reported, the Government of the Virgin Islands was officially informed on Saturday, 18 July that an airline passenger who travelled from the Territory to St. Vincent and the Grenadines through St. Lucia on Wednesday, 15 July was swabbed on arrival in St. Vincent and subsequently reported as positive for COVID-19.