In honour of the territory’s first chief minister, the late Honourable H.Lavity Stoutt
ROADTOWN Tortola BVI, March 5th, 2012 -- Good morning. I recognize the protocol that has already been established and let me say that I am indeed very pleased to join the family of our first Chief Minister and the wider Virgin Islands community as we celebrate and recognize the significance of one of our own.
A Virgin Islander with vision, a leader with the fortitude to endure the present while preparing a way for the future, our late Chief Minister, Honourable H. Lavity Stoutt.
I consider Chief Minister Stoutt, a father to these Virgin Islands. Though the Lord blessed him with six biological children, his love for this country was shared with his extended Virgin Islands family. As I have learned after becoming a parent, you would do the unimaginable to protect your children.
You begin to have the desire to do better. Not for yourself, but for the sake of your children and your legacy that will be realized through them. You begin to have dreams of the possibilities of a better existence. You conceive ideas and plans for a better tomorrow. Your expectation of yourself even gets a boost.
I believe that is what happened to our Hamilton Lavity Stoutt that afforded him the vision to birth the Virgin Islands that each and every one of us at present benefits from. As a new and young Minister in Government, I now have a greater appreciation for what it takes to prioritize national needs, make hard decisions and of course, the burden of knowing my decisions will touch future generations of Virgin Islanders.
Earlier last week, in preparation for today, I took some quiet time to really reflect on what it must have been for Chief Minister Stoutt and his peers. Unlike our present Government, there were no iPads, iPhones or even computers in the earlier years.
The public offices were not all filled with degree holding public servants or even the slightly damaged roads that can now take us from one end of our islands to the next in the comfort of our air-conditioned vehicles. What Chief Minister Stoutt had instead, was a vision and a belief in all of us and the potential of Nature’s Little Secrets.
With scarce resources and just the idea that his people should have the opportunity to obtain higher education at home in our islands; that vision propelled our late Chief Minister to develop a state of the art tertiary educational institute, despite some of his own people not realizing its benefit. Since then, our governments have had the opportunity to build on that vision and today our children are able to attend H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, with free tuition.
That vision imagined a Virgin Islands with road networks that could easily connect one village to the next. He did not know how the SUVs would come, but he knew how important it was for a hardworking man or woman in West End or East End to bring their goods to market in town.
That vision allowed him to ruffle a few feathers to ensure not some, but that all Virgin Islanders had access to basic utilities and for a government to begin the blueprint for the development of what our Deputy Premier, Honourable Dr Kedrick Pickering calls us; a great little nation.
I believe that the good Lord blesses all of his children with a vision. Even so, the ability to implement that vision is where we can see the giftedness of Chief Minister Stoutt. The mere fact that he could set forth, undeterred by the reality of what the Territory was in the those days, to realize his vision for our islands when many would have called it simply pie in the sky, is a reminder of why we should pause and honour him on today.
It was Harry Truman that said, "Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better." There is no one that can dispute that because of the leadership of H. Lavity Stoutt, we Virgin Islanders now have opportunities even ahead of our other Caribbean counterparts.
Because of his ability to translate his vision to his colleagues and his people to get on board and truly work for this country’s development is what sets him apart and earns him his right on the stage of great leaders past and present, locally and internationally and a well-deserved chapter in our history books.
To me, what made Chief Minister Stoutt an even greater leader is his ability to spot potential in his colleagues and cultivate the abilities of younger public servants. He was never afraid of being replaced or over shadowed. But instead he knew that by lifting up his fellow Virgin Islanders, he was lifting an entire Territory up and building the foundation for us to emerge and thrive among modern economies. That is the legacy of Hamilton Lavity Stoutt and one that should be a model for any individual wishing to call themselves a leader of the people of the Virgin Islands.
We just ended our acknowledgement of Black History Month and I want to remind our educators, students and wider community, that right here in the Virgin Islands; we too have our heroes that championed the cause of the children of slaves and H. Lavity Stoutt is one such person.
We often pay homage to great men and women such as Dr Martin Luther King, Dr Dorothy Height, Marcus Garvey, Ella Baker and Frederick Douglas and there is nothing wrong with that but our young people also need to know that they came a fine gentleman from the Western end of Tortola that also championed the cause of his people. They need to know that they also come from a legacy of great Virgin Islanders whose shoulders they now stand on.
The mere fact that we have a national day where we take time off to reflect on the man whose name bears today’s holiday is of historical significance to us. Unlike all other holidays, we have in the Territory; many of us here can still say that we have had some sort of interaction with Chief Minister Stoutt.
It says that as a people we have begun to recognize the invaluable contributions of our own. And as your Minister of Education & Culture, I look forward to championing other opportunities where we can recognize other men and women who have made such valuable contributions to our society.
This government realizes how important it is for our students to know this history. Along with so many other Virgin Islanders, Chief Minister Stoutt was an exemplary citizen and leader. That is why this Government has made it a paramount issue for my Ministry to ensure by the opening of the next school year, Virgin Islands History is taught in our schools.
We cannot continue to rely on auspicious occasions such as this one to recall the work of past Virgin Islanders. The teaching of our history must be institutionalized and therefore, appreciated. In order for us to prepare the next generation of Virgin Islanders, we cannot leave it to them to learn our history; our educational facilities must see this as a paramount issue.
I anticipate that by having Virgin Islands History in all of our schools, it will foster a greater sense of pride in all Virgin Islanders. It will help to teach our students about the great men and women of these islands that have sacrificed so much for the life that we have today. It will also inspire our young people to want to continue the legacy of persons like Chief Minister Stoutt, who we honour on this day.
By having Virgin Islands History in our schools, I furthermore look forward to educating the many students who are not born Virgin Islanders to help them identify with and better appreciate their new home and for all of us to work cohesively for the development of these islands.
Our former Chief Minister put his people first, in everything. The complexion of the business community has changed because we too had a leader who loved his children, his people, so much so, that he provided opportunities for Virgin Islanders to become economically empowered.
He knew the importance of allowing Virgin Islanders to become independent and self-sufficient. His government worked to truly set us apart and attracted opportunities for the benefit of all Virgin Islanders. Today our islands are a crown jewel in the tourism industry and a leader in financial services. Virgin Islanders, this is what the work of one of our Territory’s Fathers have done for us, and that we must continue for generations yet to come.
My hope is that today serves as a reminder not just to our Government, but for our wider community to recognize the selfless work of our late Chief Minister; and as ordinary citizens, for us all to work towards the good and for the development of these islands that we call our home.
On this day, I ask that all of us find ways to utilize our strengths and talents to help put our country back on the path to prosperity. Chief Minister Stoutt was very much a district man, but he worked for the national interest of his country. To remedy the many challenges our Territory is presently facing, we will need that type of investment from all of our citizens.
Before I take my seat, I want to personally thank the Stoutt family for their sacrifices. When a man or woman is called to office, we sometimes forget the humility and sacrifice that is forced on that individual’s family. You all shared Hon. Stoutt with us, and I am now a bit more aware of the difficult balancing act he perhaps had to manage.
For allowing him to also be a father to this Territory, I say thank you and our entire Virgin Islands is considerably better off because of your sacrifice. As much as we celebrate his legacy today, we as well remember your giving of your loved one to the rest of these islands.
As we celebrate the legacy of our first Chief Minister, I say God bless you and may God continue to bless the Virgin Islands with leaders, political and otherwise, with men and women fashioned in service, commitment and with vision such as the late Hamilton Lavity Stoutt.
Thank you.
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