TERRITORY DAY TO BE OBSERVED ON MONDAY WITH VIRTUAL CEREMONY
Written by Fuze Team on June 26, 2020
This year’s annual Territory Day celebrations will focus on the importance of being a Virgin Islander in a year when the Territory will go through a constitutional review.
The celebrations will be held on Monday under the theme, “The March Toward Greater Autonomy: Shaping Collective Pride”, and will also focus on what it was to be a Virgin Islander during such hardships as the lack of local governance in the 1940’s.
Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture, Dr. Natalio Wheatley, said that the Territory must seize the opportunity to understand its own situation in light of the current global protests.
Dr. Wheatley said when they speak of autonomy and a movement toward strengthening governance and ensuring deeper democracy, they must also consider what it will take to be autonomous in their minds – emancipated mentally.
This year marks 70 years since the reestablishment of the Legislative Council now known as the House of Assembly, when Virgin Islanders regained their power to govern their own affairs. This achievement of regaining power came with the togetherness of the people.
Director of Culture, Dr. Katherine Smith, shared that in order to progress, the entire village is needed and that it is necessary to move forward collectively.
Territory Day 2020 will be commemorated with a virtual ceremony on Facebook on the Government’s Facebook page @BVIGovernment on Monday, June 29 at 10:00 a.m.
