“I am trustworthy and competent” — Lorna Smith

Lorna Smith speaking about her plans to contest the 2023 General Elections on The Big Show with Cathy Richards

By MERRICK ANDREWS, Online News Editor

(JTV News) — The General Election is not about who is likable. It is not a popularity contest. It’s about who is competent and trustworthy to lead the British Virgin Islands successfully through these turbulent times.

Those are the views of Lorna G. Smith, the veteran public servant and financial services guru, who believes she has the right attributes to govern, as she announces her intention to contest the 2023 polls which are constitutionally due, no later than May 12.

In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview on Wednesday with JTV’s News Editor, Cathy Richards on The Big Story, Smith, the wife of the former premier, Dr. D. Orlando Smith, said at this time, the people of the territory also need someone with clarity, experience, and strength to guide the British Virgin Islands into the future.

“We not running a popularity contest, we can’t afford it,” she said. “So it is not about who is better liked, it is about who you trust and who is more competent. I consider myself to be trustworthy and to be competent.”

JTV News broke the story on Wednesday that Smith confirmed that she will contest the elections as an at-large candidate. She has not disclosed whether she will run as an independent or as a representative of a political party.

“The fact is Cathy that I do plan to contest the elections as an at-large candidate. About two weeks ago I was asked. In fact, I was told that the story was going to be printed and I said then that I was seriously considering [it]. And today [Wednesday] I can tell you that I have made my decision that I will contest the elections as I said as an at-large candidate,” Smith said.

In response to an earlier question about why she plans to contest the polls, Smith replied: “I have always been passionate about the British Virgin Islands and its people. I believe the British Virgin Islands deserve the best, we deserve the best. My mission as a professional has always been to make sure that the territory of the British Virgin Islands got the best. I am running to fulfill that mission.”

TIMING

And why at this time? “Because there are so many things happening globally that impact us,” Smith answered. “There is the war in Ukraine, there is the change in globalization as we know it. And these things impact us… for instance in terms of the standard… the cost of living. If you go to a supermarket these days you can’t get more than two grocery bags for close to $200. These things are impacting the British Virgin Islands. And there is so much that we need to do in the British Virgin Islands to continue to be a global competitor.”

Richards asked Smith what qualifies her to take on this monumental task, and she responded in lengthy detail: “A lot,” she started out by saying.

She continued after being asked to explain: “I have worked for the British Virgin Islands all my life. As you said in the beginning, I am skilled in negotiations. I have worked for chief ministers beginning with the late H. Lavity Stoutt, the ultimate visionary on a number of projects. For instance, he asked the governor to have me move from the Ministry of Natural Resources where I was the permanent secretary to his office, Chief Minister’s, now we call it the Premier’s Office because I shared his vision for the development of a college and so I was asked to coordinate that project and I did so successfully. I am passionate about education. I am passionate about young people. I have proven I am not just passionate, I’ve proven that I can do what needs to be done in those areas — education.

The late Hon. H. Lavity Stoutt

“I am passionate [when] I talk about infrastructure. That’s another big area that we need to look at. We need to look at climate change. I have been very, very active. In fact, climate change, I talk about it in terms of our experience with hurricanes, especially Hurricane Irma. I was there when it happened. I myself lost my home so I knew what it felt like but I didn’t sit and mourn. I made sure, in terms of the restoration of homes for British Virgin Islanders, as well as our financial services stayed afloat. So while our tourism was negatively impacted — and it took us a while to get back — because of my knowledge and experience in financial services I was able to work with other people including Robert Mathavious of the Financial Services Commission and persons in the financial services industry to make sure that our financial services stayed intact and continued to do work for us.

“Thank God we had a British Virgin Islander as the head of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. We were able to call her and work with her to be able to have a virtual system so that our courts continue to function for us. So there are all those things that I consider to qualify me to be a candidate in this upcoming election.

“I have represented the territory. In fact, I was the one who started the Hong Kong office. I set it up and Ms. Elise Donovan followed me. I also started the London office and of course, that has been [a] significant success to the British Virgin Islands. I have stood up for the British Virgin Islands internationally. You would recall my discussion with Margaret Hodge on the BBC. I thought it necessary to defend the British Virgin Islands and its reputation and I think if I may say so I did an excellent job. I have been on the Board of BVI Finance. In fact, I should also say I was the first person to be selected by, I believe it was Mr. [Ralph] O’Neal’s administration, to head what is now called BVI Finance, but what was then called the BVI International Finance Centre. And so I am steeped if you want to call it that, in financial services. But I am not just about financial services.

“I worked in tourism. By the way, I was a member of the Board of tourism for six or seven years. What were my accomplishments on the Board? We didn’t have the 16 or 15 million dollars that the government now has. We had a very small budget. But we were able to make that budget do a lot for us. We, for instance, were able to do a cruise tourism study. Meade Malone and the principals, I think, Ernst and Young in Barbados were the ones who did that cruise tourism study to determine the impact of cruise tourism on the British Virgin Islands. We went from being a small country that attracted people from the northeast United States, and maybe California, to attract people from all over the world. As you know the BVI is one of the top 10 countries in tourism in the Caribbean.”

Smith also disclosed that she is a champion for the environment and was once referred to as the “Mother of the Environment” by one of her peers.

WHO WAS REALLY RUNNING THE COUNTRY?

When asked to comment on the well-known gossip that she was the one really pulling the strings when her husband — who served three terms — as Premier, Smith went on the defensive, profusely dispelling those rumours.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” she exclaimed. “I am proud of my husband, I am very proud of his accomplishments. In fact, we grew up on two tracks professionally: Dr. Smith, the doctor, the chief medical officer, and later the politician or the political leader.

Premier and Minister of FInance Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith, OBE and his wife Mrs. Lorna Smith, OBE, just prior to attending the Thanksgiving Service for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee at St. Paul’s Cathedral. (Photo credit: BVI London Office

“I grew up as Lorna Smith; my expertise was always in international relations…So Lorna Smith, the permanent secretary. I worked with Mr. [H. Lavity] Stoutt, again, and we were members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and CARICOM. In addition to all that, I have done. So it was always Lorna smith, permanent secretary, Lorna Smith, public servant.

“So to say that I was running… I hear it too, I hear it — but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, I am very proud, as I said of my husband. He was one of the most brilliant persons. Not was, he is, one of the most brilliant persons in the British Virgin Islands. He has [a] very fine mind and he makes up his own mind. Of course, I might give an opinion like you would or anybody else but at the end of the day he makes his own decision.”

LESSONS

Richards then asked Smith what has she learned from her husband.

“I learned a lot from Dr. Smith, the premier. I learned to listen to as many people in the community as possible because part of communication, in fact, probably the most important part of communication is listening. He and I are a little different in that I am not as calm as he is.”

Besides learning to be calm and to listen, Smith said she learned, from her husband, is “acting on the basis of knowledge, not on the knowledge of feelings”.

She said he always moved forward after seeking adequate advice and gaining knowledge.

“Those things were very critical” to him, Smith said.

She said her husband knew how to delegate, noting that he allowed his ministers to do their jobs individually, and “they agreed as a cabinet in principle”.

“He was not someone who would be looking over your shoulder or his shoulder,” she said.

The same thing went for his permanent secretary and his staff.

“That’s why they loved him so much because he allowed them to grow and he gave them the kind of empowerment they need and that’s what I want to do Cathy,” she said.

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment is so important for the young people of the British Virgin Islands, according to Smith.

“Education is more than just a word, it’s relevant education. Its education that involves whether they want to be a professional… or whether they want to be in a trade. We need to have the type of education that is relevant…we need to mentor them and give them financial resources,” she added.

She disclosed that young people will be the “core” of her political platform — not just on the campaign but when she is elected.

And she is no stranger to youth development. She has been a member of the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) for many years.

“That’s my baby indeed,” she said, agreeing with Richards.

She acknowledged and thanked the current administration for having identified a piece of property for development of a YEP facility on Virgin Gorda (VG).

“I am glad something is happening on VG,” she noted.

Persons with special needs, particularly young ones, is another area close to her heart, more so at the fact that someone in her family has special needs. She said she has been impacted in a special way by this.

“Too often we see people on the street and we sort of tend to be dismissive of them but we need to, at an early age, make sure that those young people are taken care of — given an opportunity to grow,” she said.

Smith, as she earlier stated, is not as calm as her husband. She is known to be outspoken — the “fireball” type. Asked about her likeability, Smith responded by referring to her age and experience as a public servant.

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

She is 70 years old, but that’s just a “number” to her.

“I would never swap, want to swap the inspirational experiences that I had with working directly with the likes of Mr. Stoutt, Mr. Romney, and all those other ministers. I worked with my husband as well. I could not exchange that for anything in the world.

“I am 70 years, and I have never hidden it. I feel competent. It’s about your strength and it’s about your ability to perform. And I have all those.”

Smith boasted about her ability to “outrun” many of College Classics competitors in their 40s and 50s.

“Age for me is purely a number,” she said.