In September 2007, CARICOM Heads of Government convened a summit on Non-communicable disease (NCDs) to address the social, economic and health burden of NCDs in member states. The key outcome of the Summit was the Port of Spain Declaration which provides a 14 point road map for CARICOM Countries to address several challenging issues collaboratively.  While the BVI Government did not participate in the summit, the Territory embraced the recommendations coming out of the CARICOM meeting.  

Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that can cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses like the common cold that can progress to more severe and fatal infections such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world. At the end of 2019 new strain of coronavirus was detected in Wuhan City, China and later named coronavirus disease 2019 (or COVID-19) by the World Health Organisation (WHO).  On January 30, 2020 the WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

Mister Speaker, today my words may not be capable of communicating my immense pride and honour in announcing that the official opening and dedication ceremony for the Nurse Iris O'Neal Medical Centre that will take place at Five O’Clock this afternoon on the grounds of the facility in the Valley, Virgin Gorda.

Mister Speaker, I take this opportunity to inform this Honourable House of the Deposit Insurance Policy that your Government intends to implement in 2020. 

Mister Speaker, the Board of Directors of the BVI Airports Authority (BVIAA) has developed a vision to ensure that the air service delivery to the territory is both enhanced and increased, which ties into the overall vision of the Government of the Virgin Islands.

Mister Speaker, I will now focus on give an update on the state of our tourism industry. Our tourism industry continues to surge as evidenced by official reports from the Government’s Central Statistics Office which note increases of arrivals year over year since the hurricanes of 2017. 

Mister Speaker I will now turn to what we are doing as a Territory to build the BVI’s Energy Sector.

Mister Speaker, as I continue to keep this Honourable House informed on the matters that affect these beautiful British Virgin Islands, I wish now to update this Honourable House on Brexit through the lens of our economy.

Mister Speaker, my statement is titled. Thank you God.  Mister Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to thank God for keeping His guiding hands on this Government, the unconventional Government. In other words, we walk by faith and not by sight—this is what we mean by unconventional. God lead, we trust Him and follow!

Mister Speaker, I thank the Honourable Minister for Health and Social Development and his team for keeping the public informed about the status of the virus and how the Territory is mitigating the risks associated with its outbreak.