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by pltm
(PLTM) - The move by the United Kingdom (UK) to impose via imperial legislation, public registers on the BVI will see the BVI losing close to $200M from its $300M revenue annually. This is according to Hon. Mark Vanterpool, Minister of Communications and Works.
Hon. Vanterpool, who was speaking at the Market Square in Road Town last evening, May 23, urged all residents to come out and support the march against the decision later today.
He said that their pockets will also be affected.
“Of the $300M that we run our country as a government, they want to take away nearly $200M, changing our lives completely,” he said.
“The United Kingdom government has decided that our financial services business which attracts hundreds and thousands of companies to register here in the VI under international law and international rules, that they want to be able to have public registry where their press, their people, anyone can go and look in that registry and see whose names are on those companies,” he added.
The Minister lamented that this will turn companies away.
“When that happens, the mere purpose of the privacy of those businesses being here would have been lost and therefore, we would have lost our financial services."
He further explained, "That means that 400,000 companies or so who provide to us here in the Territory $190M in revenue to the government, employment to many here in the Virgin Islands and employment to many others throughout the world, Hung Kong everywhere, it means that will be lost."
He said that the BVI continues to meet international regulatory standards.
“I want you to understand it because it will affect your pocket book; it’s going to affect many other parts of the economy. We cannot stand to let that happen. We govern our financial services under international rules that we abide by every day,” he stated.
We Will Not Accept This Rule
The Fourth District Representative said that he knows that the people of the BVI will not allow their rights to be taken away.
“This rule that the United Kingdom is trying to put on us will affect you in your homes; affect you with your mortgages; it will affect you with the food on your table; it will affect everywhere; your children will have problems, we will not be able to build schools; we will not be able to build roads.”
Minister Vanterpool said that the BVI is at a crossroad.
“We must stand up and stand up for our rights. So tomorrow don’t standby, stand at the side of the roads, don’t stand in your homes peeping out, get up, get out and get to the Sunday Morning Well at 4.00 pm.”
He continued, “let us march down to the Governor, whether he is there or not. We want to send a message to the United Kingdom that we as a people of the Virgin Islands will not accept that rule and they better go carry it back where it come from.”
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