As CARICOM advances efforts to achieve its goals in many areas including food security, Premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Dr Natalio Wheatley has commended the vision and leadership of President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
“As it pertains to food security. We know that we can be faced with hurricanes [and] climate disasters at any time…We know that the region can do much better in providing food security. The potential and opportunities are there. And certainly, with President Ali’s leadership, I see that we are beginning to hit our targets to provide for better food security,” Dr Wheatley said.
He made the remarks during an interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Monday, on the sidelines of the business session of the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), at the Marriott Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown.
Given Guyana’s phenomenal transformation, Dr Wheatley noted that the BVI is thrilled about the success and prosperity that Guyana has been experiencing recently.
From a political standpoint, Dr Wheatley said the BVI needs allies in the region since CARICOM has many diplomatic partners in the global spectrum.
He also disclosed that the BVI wants to get more involved in some of the economic initiatives in the Caribbean Community.
“For instance, air travel…We want to see better air travel. The BVI will benefit from that air travel concerning the fact that we have such a large contingent of individuals from Guyana who are residents in the BVI,” Dr Wheatley underscored.
With President Ali’s announcement of a US$2 million financing towards climate and mitigation adaptation, the BVI leader the proclamation is ‘extremely exciting’ since financing is needed to advance the region’s climate change agenda.
He further emphasised that the region has high expectations for President Ali, considering his impressive track record of leadership and results-oriented approach.