A series of public meetings will be launched as it pertains to discussions on residents obtaining Belonger status in the territory, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has stated.
Premier Wheatley indicated that these meetings are expected to occur before a planned review of the government’s policy on residency and belongership in September.
“So we want persons to to be aware of that and to come and to participate in those meetings. The purpose of these meetings is to develop a policy. We don’t have a properly developed policy,” the Premier told reporters at a press conference on Monday.
He added: “We did have one you could say like a policy statement that was found to be inconsistent with the law, you know, part of the reason why we’ve gotten into the challenge where we are.”
Existing law is nothing new
While encouraging persons to do their own research on the subject, Premier Wheatley noted that the law which currently exists has been in place for more than 20 years.
He further explained that this law was passed by a previous Virgin Islands Party administration under the Chief Ministership of the late Ralph T O’Neal.
Premier Wheatley added that the National Democratic Party government took power soon after that law was amended to where it is today. And instead of amending the law, it passed a policy.
But the Premier said residents were told on multiple occasions since the institution of that policy — most notably by the Complaints Commissioner, the late Elton Georges — that the law needed to be amended because the policy was inconsistent with the law.
“So the COI (Commission of Inquiry) has identified and the UK has insisted that the policy is inconsistent with the law,” Premier Wheatley said.