Governor Albert Bryan attended the St. Kitts Music Festival on Saturday, but you wouldn’t know that the territory’s chief executive was out of the Virgin Islands — notification that is required by law — if it was not for a post on the St. Kitts-Nevis Times Facebook page on Sunday.
“[Prime Minister Timothy] Harris welcomed Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands Albert Bryan Jr. who led a huge delegation on Virgin Islanders that visited St. Kitts for this year’s historic Music Festival,” reads the post. “Hundreds journeyed from St. Thomas, St. Croix and St. John to witness the 23rd St.Kitts Music Festival which is being described as the biggest and best ever!”
Mr. Bryan even shared the post on his Facebook page’s timeline along with a comment. “Wonderful experience with our sister islands. They have managed to create a world-class event which has been consistent over the last 24 years. Proof positive that success takes perseverance, a commitment to excellence and time,” the governor wrote.
The administration is supposed to notify the public of authority changes, no matter how temporary. When a governor leaves the territory, the lieutenant governor becomes the one in control, while the Senate president serves as the lieutenant governor until the governor’s return to the territory. But Government House did not notify the public, which could have created an embarrassing scenario if, God forbid, something unfortunate had occurred to the territory’s leader while on St. Kitts-Nevis soil.
The Consortium spoke with the governor on Sunday upon his return, and asked why wasn’t the public notified of his travels.
“I wasn’t on official business, I went to see the concert and come back,” Mr. Bryan said. “It’s only 24 hours. There’s a letter that I signed putting the lieutenant governor in charge.” Mr. Bryan said he took two security guards with him, and while he didn’t say how he traveled, the nature of the trip suggested a private charter.
The Consortium reminded the governor that a notice is usually issued to the media so that the public could be informed. He said he believed the notice wasn’t provided because it was signed Saturday, and that it would probably be sent on Sunday. No such release was provided on Sunday, however.
The governor said he enjoyed the festival, and he spoke highly of the island. “When you look at the raw product, you see where we are limited,” the territory’s leader said. He said the island’s passport program, where other nationalities, mainly wealthy individuals buy the island’s passport to become citizens and thereby gaining easier access to certain nations such as the United States following the approval of a visa, “is doing leaps and bounds down there. They’re doing amazing things.” Mr. Bryan pointed to restrictions in the territory that, in St. Kitts, are non-issues.
“You have the ability to dig out a mangrove and create a new mariana, something that would never be allowed here even in a dead mangrove,” Mr. Bryan said.
He added, “You look at what they have to offer and you question yourself as to why still St. Croix hasn’t become the destination that it should be. They don’t have anything that we don’t have. Matter of fact the way the whole country is setup we have a distinct advantage over them, I think, [but] they’re doing quite well.”
The governor said the island’s beachside and businesses are booming, and he said an advantage of St. Kitts is that a lot of people are concentrated in the town area. “The way that Basseterre is setup, all the people are in that area,” he said, referring to the capital of St. Kitts, while on St. Croix residents are scattered all over. “So when you go in the town there are people moving and a lot of activity all the time, and I think that helps to add to it.”
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