Greetings to the residents and visitors of these beautiful Virgin Islands.  I am Marlon Penn, Minister of Health and Social Development and I am pleased to lend my voice to this critical topic of vaccination and COVID-19 in this new capacity.

Today, I wish to address two matters in my opening remarks. The first matter will be that of the SeaTrade conference. I am sure that many persons are interested to know about the commitments for additional cruise ship calls that we would have secured at Seatrade.

A pleasant good morning to the Virgin Islands community; those of you joining us live via the radio and the various social media channels.

I especially wish to welcome the members of the media who are with us.

Consistent with your Government’s commitment to transparency, accountability and overall keeping you informed on the work that we are doing to properly manage your affairs, I intend, as Premier, to continue the practice of holding regular press conferences to provide updates on current matters and answer questions from the media.

As I stated when I published the Commission of Inquiry report on 29 April, I believe it is a vital and hugely valuable contribution towards the achievement of better governance for the people of the BVI.

Cabinet Meeting – 27th April, 2022

His Excellency, the Governor John J. Rankin, CMG, chaired the Meeting held at the Financial Services Commission’s Resource Centre on 27th April, 2022.  

As you would recall, last Thursday, 5 May, 2022, your National Unity Government took office with a pledge to work together to urgently deal with a number of critical matters and to build a better Virgin Islands.

Tarik Aaron was convicted by Her Honour, Senior Magistrate Richards on the charge of Possession of a Controlled Drug with intent to Supply, which is a violation of section 7 (2) of the Drug (Prevention of Misuse) Act(Cap 178) ( as amended). 

Good afternoon. 

I am very proud to stand before you today, now officially appointed Premier of the Virgin Islands. 

In the past few days there has been a cascade of uneasy events that have rocked the Virgin Islands and its people. Nonetheless, we must remain resilient and steadfast on our journey. As an elected official, I stand on the principle of country above self, and as such, I have agreed with the decision to cede my post of Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration to facilitate the continuance of Government. This procedure will be completed once all the legal requirements are followed, and as such, the Constitution of the Virgin Islands would remain intact. 

I appreciate that recent events in the British Virgin Islands with the arrest of Premier Fahie have been shocking and concerning for everybody.  The Commission of Inquiry Report has also raised very serious concerns about the failures of governance and dishonesty by elected officials.  This is a challenging time for the people of the British Virgin Islands.