Roadtown, Tortola - Mister Speaker, on behalf of the Government of the Virgin Islands, I am proud to say that Festival 2009 was successful.

When I say successful Mister Speaker, I am alluding to improved starting times with various events and zero tolerance to crime during our emancipation celebration.

Before I get into congratulating the various committees and subcommittees that worked tirelessly to make Festival 2009 a success, let me first thank the God Great God of the Universe for giving us the opportunity to celebrate yet another year of emancipation.

God continues to be good to us. 

Mister Speaker, today, you, me, all of us can do the things we want to do and refuse the things we don’t want to do because of his grace in setting our ancestors free.

In fact, it is because of God, I can stand here confidently and express my thoughts freely, of course in context and in a responsible manner because with freedom comes great responsibility.

This is an opportunity many others around the world do not have because slavery is still present. 

As Virgin Islanders we all have the gift of freedom, which came at a painstaking price and we must be grateful.

Mister speaker the constant message echoed by many during the festival celebration this year is the need to be more united than divided; to be mentally free and not just physically free; to be each other’s keeper and not each other’s enemy; to be supportive and not repulsive; to be cooperative and not discombobulated.

In other words, Mister Speaker, our emancipation this year was about remembering the time, reflecting on what our oral history has taught us about our ancestors and their struggle. This mean as a freed people we must mimic our ancestor’s zeal to live peacefully and harmoniously.

A wise man said and I quote “Freedom is the right to choose; the right to create for yourself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice and the exercise of choice a man is not a man but a member, an instrument, a thing,” end of quote.
Mister Speaker, can you see how far we have come and why we should be grateful? 

Pastor Mills during this year’s emancipation ceremony on August Sunday highlighted that freedom has boundaries and limitations that must be respected in order for our freedom to remain intact.
If we did not have freedom we could not invite or even allow others to live among us, so all persons Mister Speaker, all persons must give God thanks for our emancipation. 

Mister Speaker, I feel proud today. I feel proud because as a leader I am not afraid to take a backseat and let others lead. 

As Minister of Education and Culture charged with overseeing the festival activities, I placed my confidence in the hands of my colleagues Dr. the Honourable Vincent Scatliffe representative for the Fourth District and Honourable Elvis Harrigan representative for the Fifth District. Together they eagerly took the baton, did an exceptional job, gave necessary updates and proved that together as a team we can always achieve more and great things. 

Mister Speaker, they showed that once again country comes first and for their stellar roll in Festival 2009, I publicly thank them and commend them. 

There are many persons who have gone before that have given exceptional service toward the continued development of our emancipation celebration and this year is no exception. 

I have already been in communication with the chairman of the Virgin Islands Festival and Fairs Committee Mr. Collin Scatliffe who have expressed his satisfaction with the success of the various festival activities. 

Time, Mister Speaker, was in our discussion. I am pleased to say that this year we were able to begin several events on time with delays spanning no more than 30 minutes of its advertised start time, which is a remarkable improvement over the average start time of over two hours for most of the events during Festival 2008.

Mister Speaker, I mentioned the importance of time because effective scheduling to maximise the benefits of local and regional performances was crucially important. We did not want anyone to feel as though they were pressured by time and that is why for Festival 2009, we stressed being on time. 

Mister Speaker, based on how festival operated in the past, many of our spectators took time for granted and missed out on some performances. Although some festival events during the start of the event were not filled to capacity, action started.
Mister Speaker sir, I must forewarn that going into the future for festival in the Virgin Islands, this is the trend we want to uphold-- the importance of time. 

I am happy to report that the Prince and Princess Show, International Calypso Night, International Reggae Night, and the Road Town and East End Parades started at improved times setting them apart from previous years. 

I must commend the Miss BVI Pageant Committee because the show started 8:00pm on the dot with a breathtaking opening that had the jam-packed crowd screaming with excitement and for this I must commend Ms Alicia Green and her team. 
The Annual Cultural Parade in Road Town stunned everyone when it started a much improved twenty five minutes after the scheduled start time and for this Mr. Marvin Blyden and his team must be commended.  

These are just a few of the events, Mister Speaker that has set the tone and expectation for Festival 2010 and years to come.
Mister Speaker, the Festival 2009 committee has proved that it is possible to move away from the seemingly established negative definition of what is referred to as BVI time. 

The Government of the Virgin Islands would like to say kudos to each committee and subcommittee member for making the different activities a success and for putting their personal best into such a hectic and time-consuming task. They have given of themselves leaving their families at times to ensure our festivities were effectively planned and we, the people of the Virgin Islands are thankful and grateful. 

Many thanks to the chairperson for the Heritage Month Committee Pastor Melvin Turnbull and his team for ensuring that Gospel Fest 2009 went off with a bang. The Emancipation Service at the Sunday Morning Well and the Sunrise Service at the Central Administration Complex came with thought provoking messages from Pastor Calvin Mills of the Church of God Holiness, Baugher’s Bay, and Reverend Keith Lewis of the Methodist Church respectively on how freedom should be embraced and utilised.
Thanks to Mrs. Sandra Potter-Warrican and her committee in East End/ Long Look and kudos to the Carrot Bay committee Chairperson Ms. Anthea Smith and her team for the Cultural Fiesta activities closing out the emancipation celebrations in Carrot Bay. 

Also, thanks to the Horseracing Association team for an action pack afternoon at the Ellis Thomas Downs race track and congratulations to all the winners for the day.

Congratulations to competition winners including Prince and Princess 2009 Madison and Gregory Nelson, Miss BVI, Ms. Josephina Nunez, Miss East End Long Look Ms. Raemona Maloney and the BVI Calypso Monarch Queen Makisha who also placed second in the Leeward Islands Monarch Competition and to Showtime our Festival 2009 Road March champs for the second year in a row. 

Congratulations to all parade winners and participants and thank you for taking the time to participate with your many colourful costumes. Mister Speaker, fifty-five entries is only the beginning of what is to come when people get together to celebrate in unity despite our origin. 

Congratulations to Mr. Algernon Mactavious in whose honour the festival village was named. Thanks to Mr. Franche Gumbs for all the work done and to the Department of Culture for any and all assistance given in making our festival a success. 

Special thanks to the booth owners and vendors who came out to serve at all the festivities. 

Thanks to the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, security agencies, the BVI Fire and Rescue Service Department, and to the Solid Waste Department for their invaluable role in making sure the streets were spic-and-span immediately after the festivities.
Also, special thanks to the BVI Red Cross and the Peebles Hospital staff for standing by at all times to meet the necessary medical needs of festival revellers. 

Mister Speaker, I can’t call every name so at this point I want to thank all persons that played a role in moving Festival 2009 from “GOOD TO GREAT.”

Mister Speaker, the 2009 festival committee has already started to assess the pitfalls as well. We believe you can never stop moving from “good to great,” as a result planning must be continuous.  

We have discussed the possibility of launching festival promotions from December to attract an even wider audience and for cost effective entertainment. This step we strongly believe would also minimise the continuous conflict of event scheduling during the festivities.

Mister Speaker, organisers other than festival committee are conveniently scheduling grand events that are biting large into the festival emancipation line up.  

We must be territory-minded, especially in these tough economic times when people are pinching their pockets to get by. As organisers of events we have to be more sensitive when planning. 

You see Mister Speaker, while we are busy coming up with several moneymaking activities, our community is being spread thin. In fact, the money is being spread too thin, Mister Speaker. 

For example, we know when the International Calypso Night, International Reggae Night, Local Calypso Competition and East End Parade are happening, but yet we have other activities clashing with these events and other activities in the festival line up.
Mister Speaker, as organisers we can put other events earlier or later but not to compete with emancipation celebrations because it is for that reason we are celebrating. 

Let us therefore as a Territory in the future be more community minded and united in our efforts. Let us come together to support each other, not take from each other. I am positive that once we plan our events effectively and early all stakeholders will benefit.
We must promote our festival activities as a cohesive community and especially during emancipation it is not the time for us to be divided but to work together as a team, thereby moving our festival emancipation celebration from “Good to Great.”

Another topic we discussed is improving our calypso arena particular the “Kaiso” where we see the need to get into the school system to foster the development of the art form. This means educating parents and educators. 

As Minister, I will task the Department of Culture to work hand in glove with the Department of Education to accomplish this goal.
In fact, Mister Speaker the calypso is a way to express freedom of speech where you sing about the things that affect you and your community. It is also a way to effect change in a community because Calypsonians represent the unsung voices in the community. 

Mister Speaker, culture is the socio-fabric of our community and calypso is a part of it so we must develop the art form. Additionally, calypso is also a way to keep the Government and other powerful entities in check. We must give our children the opportunity to be more expressive using all forms for media in a respectful but innovative manner. 

Mister Speaker, we also see the need to define what culture is. This means working with our senior citizens to aid us with a proper definition of who we are, what we use to do and what we should be doing so that all these attributes what make us Virgin Islanders are prevalent throughout the festival and throughout our daily routines in life. 

In this light Mister Speaker, I am proud to once again inform that as Minister with responsibility for culture, through the Department of Culture with assistance from the BVI UNESCO office, work is well on the way to produce a National Cultural Policy to be approved by this Honourable House in the not too distant future.

Mister Speaker, chairman for Festival 2009 Mr. Collin Scatliffe has assured me that he will be providing the 2009 Festival Management Board an updated festival report, which will include a detailed report on all spending within two weeks time. 

The Board, after reviewing the information will compile the report of Festival 2009 and forward such to the Minister. Upon receipt of the report both Cabinet and the House of Assembly will receive their copies. The report from festival 2008 was received and the copy of such will be forwarded to both entities in the very near future. 

As Minister of Education and Culture, I can assure you that transparency and accountability is a priority for this Government and always will be. 

Festival 2008 was a transition period for this Government as it was our first festival since taking office and we learned many hard lessons and had to make many adjustments that were met with resistance and negativity, but the lessons of the past allowed us to make adjustments so that we can enjoy Festival 2009, which has been pronounced a resounding success by all. 

Mister Speaker, we look forward to an even more successful festival for 2010.
Thank you, Mister Speaker.