Commentary

Dr. Steve Hardee says it is time to restrict nonvaccinated people from places such as bars, restaurants, theaters and cruise ships.

Moleto Smith Jr. asks that all Virgin Islanders unite to focus on defeating the COVID crisis.

After a successful start to vaccination, it has stalled. And now we see a rise in cases. Many people I speak to say "they are not ready" for the vaccine. Seriously, I have no idea what that means besides fear of the vaccine. 

Moleto A. Smith Jr. is very frustrated by the refusal of "conspiracy theorists and nonsense pushers" to protect the residents of the Virgin Islands by getting vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.

Decisions taken at the G7 summit in relation to China will become an issue the Caribbean will have to respond to. David Jessop believes that the coming chill in relations between the West and China will make finding solutions to the problems the region faces more challenging.

Filippo Cassinelli says the energy costs in the Virgin Islands are the highest in the nation. A way to generate affordable energy is imperative.

Accountability is the willingness to stand in responsibility for every choice. It is acting with integrity, doing what we say we will do. When we make a mistake we do not seek to hide it or avoid it. We have the courage to face it willingly.

Jelani Ritter writes about the importance of infrastructure, renewable energy, technology and the necessity for a diversification of the economy in the territory’s future.

Tabletop exercises test the territory’s strengths and weaknesses in the face of disaster, and they test emergency workers' ability to respond to them.

This year has seen the Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean introduce Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBBCs). Other nations are expected to do so soon. David Jessop believes that CBBCs could revolutionize Caribbean financial transfers, engage the unbanked, and do much to encourage intra-regional trade.

With power outages cascading across the territory and the news in the last week – even getting attention on National Public Radio on the mainland – we worry these events might presage a new drive toward privatization of our public utility.

Rodney North and David North share the many ways they believe the U.S. Virgin Islands could bring money into the local economy.

The Source this week resumes the Virtues Project, a weekly feature focused on building peaceful and caring communities through understanding and fostering the practice of virtues.

That the “announcement” of the “retirement” of Police Commissioner Trevor Velinor at the end of his contract on June 30 did not come from Government House speaks to the complete lack of leadership at the top.

It is quite possible that as the year goes on, Cuba and Argentina will enter into a production agreement for two of Cuba’s COVID-19 candidate vaccines if certified for use. David Jessop writes that the region should be proud that a relatively small Caribbean nation may soon be able to supply a self-developed vaccine to the Americas and the wider world.

Prof. Paul Leary says that the news on the Limetree Refinery and the history of refineries in the Virgin Islands accentuates the need for the elimination of fossil fuels. He points out that the territory is blessed with abundant sunshine and constant winds that could form the basis for a green alternative.

The current single board of elections has been operating devoid of bylaws rules of governance and other parameters which would legitimize this body politic.

Dawn Henry gives a brief history of how the current environmental crisis was created in spite of the good intentions of the V.I. Government, the DPNR. She says that under the Trump Administration the scale was tipped in favor of big business over environmental regulations.

Glenn Webster writes that taking care of one’s parent when they are unable to take care of themselves is a gift, not a burden.

The pandemic has proved conclusively that without tourism much of the Caribbean economy is unviable. Echoing a recent Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report, David Jessop asks whether the basic product of sun, sea and sand is sustainable?