The Governor announced his decision in a press release last evening, Friday, September 25, 2020, where he said that while the initial decline of the offer was a disappointing one, he thought it was best for the HMS Medway, a British Royal Navy patrol ship, to return to the territory.

The Governor announced his decision in a press release last evening, Friday, September 25, 2020, where he said that while the initial decline of the offer was a disappointing one, he thought it was best for the HMS Medway, a British Royal Navy patrol ship, to return to the territory.

Governor upstages Gov’t orders

“As your Governor, it is my constitutional responsibility to protect the people of BVI and ensure the security of these islands. That is why I made an offer of UK security support earlier in the year, alongside the medical, technical and other support being provided by the UK.”

Governor Jaspert continued, “I was disappointed that the offer of security support was not accepted at the time, as I felt it was a missed opportunity to enhance our local capability and protect our community from external risks.”

The Governor further moved to justify his reasoning for upstaging the orders of the democratically elected government by noting, “I feel I must do all in my power to protect the people of the British Virgin Islands and to support our dedicated law enforcement teams.”

The outgoing Governor’s decision is now being seen a violation on the people of the VI as the Premier, Hon Fahie in August 2020 made his position clear that there was no need for the UK Navy ship.

The Governor also called for the preservation of slavery relics and places named after the very people like Sir Francis Drake who killed, raped, murdered, abused and inflicted harm on the ancestors of the Virgin Islanders in the British slavery era.

UK ‘itching to put military’ in VI jurisdiction – Premier

As part of declining the offer, the Premier had stated that the UK was ‘itching to put military’ in VI jurisdiction and that the territory was well capable of handling its own border security.

Since then, the administration has strengthened its collaborations will the USVI and utilized local ships to patrol VI’s waters through a joint task force comprising officers of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF), the Immigration Department and Her Majesty’s Customs, a move that has been very effective in keeping the borders secured.

Many have now labelled Governor’s Jaspert’s decision for the return of the Navy ship to be more of a military occupational force as the Premier had suspected.

Premier Andrew A. Fahie said his administration declined the United Kingdom’s offer of military support because of his confidence in the abilities of the Territory’s law enforcement agencies to get the job of border security done.

Governor asked to apologize for ‘reparation’ comments

The new controversy surrounding Governor Jaspert upstaging decisions by the democratically elected government also comes at a time when Mr Jaspert is being asked to apologize for allegedly racist and disrespectful statements that the VI will not be getting reparations from the UK for acts of slavery.

The Governor also called for the preservation of slavery relics and places named after the very people like Sir Francis Drake who killed, raped, murdered, abused and inflicted harm on the ancestors of the Virgin Islanders in the British slavery era.