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by pltm
(PLTM) - Hon. Melvin “Mitch” Turnbull has thrown his support behind the British Virgin Islands Civic Action-led march that was against among other things, the tax payers footing the Speaker of the House of Assembly Hon. Julian Willock’s $98, 676.51 legal bill associated with the failed injunction matter against the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) attorneys.
The March commenced adjacent to the Governor’s House and ended outside the HoA building in Road Town on Monday, November 22.
“It is important that we are here, we are calling for justice, we are calling for leadership that matters, but leadership with integrity. Not one that changes what they say depending on who is in front of them, not one that changes depending on what reaction they want. But we want leadership to take this country, to take this territory to the next generation, to the next point that we are going to,” the Second District Representative and Opposition member said.
Hon. Turnbull of the Progressive Virgin Islands Movement (PVIM) was the only elected Member of the House of Assembly who attended the march.
He continued: “But you cannot be talking about self-determination, you cannot be talking about independence and all the things we have been talking about and our actions depicts something completely different. So Hon. Premier (Andrew Fahie) the leadership of this present sitting administration, you are accountable to the people, you have the point where 1,200 signatures along with the voices of the people together with a march that happened in the HoA was put forward and you ignored the voices of the people because you felt that it was your duty to go into the HoA and give options that were there. Now we are in this position where the CoI continues this week and it is continuing to unfold and unravel.”
He also described the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) a “failed government” and the “people have had enough and I am glad that everyone is here today.”
“We are here because the hope of the Virgin Islands rests on the shoulders of the people,” he stated, adding that the Premier is to be held to account for his actions.
“The people of the Virgin Islands have had enough and I stand with the people, we need justice,” he added.
One of the organizers of the march Cindy Rosan-Jones in the meantime continued to clamour for the Speaker to pay his own bill.
Previously, when asked why the protest was heading to an empty HoA building, Rosan-Jones remarked that “It's symbolism.”
She said one of the reasons for the march on the holiday observing the 1949 March was because persons were finding it difficult to participate during days they have to work.
Rosan-Jones informed that the institution – House of Assembly (HoA) – that came out under the aforementioned march, is now “under threat now so it is symbolic for us to march on that day to our original HoA. So we are not marching to give them anything; it’s about a protest whether the Premier is here or not.”
