A report suggests that the Virgin Islands be placed under British administration. At the same time, the archipelago’s leader meets in American law, accused of drug smuggling.
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The political system in the British Virgin Islands has long cracked at the seams.
For years, allegations of corruption and misuse of citizens’ tax money have been made.
It peaked on Thursday when the Virgin Islands’ top political leader, Andrew Fahie, was arrested in Miami, USA, on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.
According to the indictment, he has accepted a payment of 700,000 dollars (6, 5 million NOK) in exchange for Mexican cartels being allowed to use ports on the islands for drug trafficking, states BBC.
What Fahie did not know was that the Mexican counterpart was actually the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
“Terribly bad”
Just hours before Fahie was due to appear in court in Miami on Friday, an investigative commission announced a report which gives a crushing verdict on the rule and care of the archipelago.
It tells of an advanced misrule among the executive in the Virgin Islands, and finds, among other things, that politicians and ministries spend millions of dollars every year without proper processes, according to The Guardian.
–“Terribly bad” is the report’s word choice when it comes to describing how things have gone with the political government on the islands.
The Commission proposes a two-year repeal of the Virgin Islands Constitution, that the elected government be dissolved and replaced by a direct government under the current Governor John Rankin – appointed by the United Kingdom.
Need for change
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss sees the arrest of Andrew Fahie in the light of the Commission of Inquiry’s report.
In a statement on Friday, she said the allegations against the group’s leader “underscore the need for urgent action”.
–– The investigation report that the governor published today clearly shows that there is a need for significant legislative and constitutional changes to restore a board that the inhabitants of the British Virgin Islands are entitled to, says Truss.
The Virgin Islands is a British overseas territory consisting of a total of 60 islands, but only 16 of them are inhabited by the approximately 35,000 inhabitants.
The archipelago is on the UN list of non-autonomous territories. The United Kingdom has administrative power over the territory.
Appointed to take over
If Britain chooses to follow the commission’s proposals for action, it will be Virgin Islands Governor John Rankin who will take power for a transitional period until a new representative political system is reintroduced.
– I swear that the interests of the people of the Virgin Islands will continue to be my main concern, and will work to ensure a transparent, honest and open government in line with the rule of law to strengthen the foundation of the British Virgin Islands, says Rankin, reproduced by Sky News.
When the archipelago’s leader Fahie was arrested on Thursday, Rankin insisted that it had nothing to do with the commission of inquiry’s report.
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