Q&A with Coy Levons – National Democratic Party (NDP) District 9 Candidate

He wants an opportunity to participate in policy-making in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Coy Levons is an Anegada native who believes politicians continue to ignore the voices of the residents of the sister islands.

The father of four joined the political race because he believes he can be a part of the solution for District 9 which includes Anegada and Virgin Gorda – the latter island where he spent his youth years as a part of the community.

In the BVI, voters grow with politicians. Residents are loyal and feel safe with the candidate they have been voting for in several general elections. Additionally, many see the younger generation as politically immature and incapable of leading the territory, especially in difficult political and financial times.

But there’s momentum slowly building in these islands.

The young voters of yesteryear are not the same as those currently registered to vote in the April 24th general elections. And they want politicians they can identify with.

Levons thinks he offers a good balance to not only capture the youth vote, but to assure the older generation that he understands their concerns and needs.

He wants to implement a District Councils for the sister islands – a similar system to the City Council structure because he believes the system would give residents a sense of ownership and a sense of power in District 9.

He is up against two seasoned candidates in his home district – Virgin Islands Party Vincent Wheatley and from Shereen Charles-Flax from Progressive Virgin Islands Movement.

But Levon is unafraid to air his views – he stresses he understands the needs of Anegada and Virgin Gorda because he is a community member, and that over the years other politicians have tried and failed to move District 9 forward because they do not have ground presence.

Why have you entered politics now?

What has changed in 2023 is that we are at a crossroad, and I think that what the country needs is an individual that has vision, to be able to see what the future holds for us and to be able to articulate that vision effectively.

One of the things that I’m very good at is working with people. I love the fact that I could collaborate on different levels in the international arena to be able to work well with board colleagues, staff and constituents.

I have held executive positions where I had to work with people on an executive level. I’ve also held senior management positions that allowed me to be able to meet people where they are, and I think most importantly, as a leader, one must have empathy.

In this particular scenario that we have empathy is one of the things that is missing because individuals with empathy could actually meet people where they understand their points of views and their concerns.

Integrity also plays a very important part in having strong leadership because in this day and age, and in the political environment, a strong moral compass, honesty and transparency are needed to be able to take the country forward and I think that I possess those qualities as a young person who can operate on a senior level as well as individual who worked with, for want of a better word, the common individual.

I honestly think that I possess qualities to carry our country forward. I think my youth may be a concern for most people. But I think my youth is an advantage in that I have seen what it was before, and seeing what the new world is going to look like. I strike the right balance as an individual that is capable of taking the country forward.

What we have to appreciate is that individuality is an important element of understanding what the big picture is. What you have to do is to kind of break it down to them, to make them understand what the issues really are. They see loyalty to politicians, but they don’t really see the consequences and implication of their decision and how such a decision will have an effect on them and more importantly on the generations that have to come after them. So I think in terms of being able to speak with people, to understand their views, and then to be able to ask them questions to trigger a response, to make them say, wow, that actually makes sense.

Why did you join the National Democratic Party (NDP) given their 2019 performance at the 2019 general election, securing only three of the 13 House of Assembly seats. Many also believe that the NDP has lost their connection with the voters.

Experience is the biggest teacher of life. History has shown us that during the time the NDP has taken over the economy has always been robust. Well, I think the NDP has learned a lot of lessons. And I think that the lessons that they have learned, they have borne the consequences, so I honestly think that I’m working with a party that has the knowledge and the ability to take the country forward. However, I’m also working with a party that acknowledged that they have made some tremendous mistakes, and they have seen the consequences of their mistakes. I think I bring a new balance and the balance, a balance of empathy.

The government is made up of people, and the voices of the people and the concerns of the people have to be addressed. If those concerns are not addressed, people have the right to do what they did in the time that the NDP lost the election. So I’m pretty confident that they will end up being the government in power to navigate us through this financial crisis and navigate us through a lot. I think the team is a dynamic team in the sense that we have people from the legal field, and we have individuals from the financial sector. So I’m convinced that the NDP government has the tools that it takes to be able to navigate us through this particular junction that we are right now.

The NDP realised that the topography right now, in this landscape, it’s a situation that requires leadership. And I think that the people have seen the consequences of running a government without consultation of the people. It is very imperative that the NDP, listens to the people and understands what the issues are on the ground, and most importantly, executes on behalf of the people.

I always wondered when decisions are made, if decisions are being made in the best interest of the people. I am from Anegada and grew up on Virgin Gorda and I see it from both perspectives. So for me, there has been very little movement, and Virgin Gorda and Anegada share the same issues, even though Virgin Gorda may be bigger.

And I think that it is time to be able to structure our district in such a way that things work. That means a reformation of the Constitution. We kind of have to look at what we have, and try to develop what we have, and try to structure it to work for us. And I honestly believe that over the years, politicians have neglected the voices of the sister islands because many of those who represent us never had anyone on Anegada. So having me now is a bit different.

That’s the difference between myself and others. I am on the ground. I grew up in Anegada, but spent my younger years on Virgin Gorda and maintained relationships with the people. As an executive, managing the Virgin Gorda airport was my first project. So I’ve grown to know the topography, and have grown to know the people. So it allowed my passion to grow more because what I am able to see now is the bigger picture.

The question becomes how do we structure this particular District. My family always supports me, my mom knows that I always had this passion. And this passion has been there from the time I was a little boy until now, and I think that you either have to make a difference, or I just tag along with everybody else. And I’m not a guy who did that. I will make my stance now because I think it is now that my country needs more.

How are you going to ensure that the voice of Anegada and Virgin Gorda is loud and clear where national decisions are being made?

Anegada and Virgin Gorda represent a huge sector of the tourism industry. So for instance, we have a lot of the high end clients and Anegada gets a lot of the sailing clients, and a lot of the local populace depend upon tourism to finance their everyday life. Now the issue that you have on Virgin Gorda and on Anegada when it comes to representation can be solved by the implementation of a District Council.

What a District Council does is allow the people of that particular country to set the strategic directive of that particular country. So what has to be worked out is how the budget would work, and how one would feed those choices that you have made into the Minister and by extension into the House of Assembly. And by having these particular structures in place, they do two things for us. They allow us to set a strategic direction for each particular island within the District. And what it does for us is that it allows us to be able to control the narrative.

So we have self-determination, we have the ability to govern ourselves and have a budget. And because the ministers of government are not specifically living on both islands, is the ability to make choices and decisions that affect us. So it becomes way more easier for an elected representative to represent because what the minister has to do now is execute on behalf of the District Council. So I think that it is very important that one of the things that we look at on the sister islands is the set up of this Town Council system, a District Council.

I don’t think we just get up and say, we are going to do a district council everywhere. I think we have to look at specific needs, and then see how best we can make the structure work. I think that the first step should be to establish them on the sister islands of Jost van Dyke, Anegada and Virgin Gorda. What we need to do first is look at the concept, explore the concept on the smaller islands, alter the system, and then look to see what commonality we have that we can actually transition to Tortola. But I am not a person that is going to make a decision for Tortola.

Anegada Land Advisory Council Committee is the perfect concept. We already have local people that represent both the business community and the local populace who sit on a board and they meet every month, and they determine, okay: What lands need to be for commercial use? What lands need to be for residential? What are your views and concerns with the development that you’re doing?

So the concept has already been established, it just needs to be massaged a little more. Now what I would propose is a system of nomination. You’ll have a hybrid and it is not work that these people will do everyday because on the smaller islands we are looking at small population sizes.

What you are suggesting is adding another political layer and for that to be done, we will need constitutional reform. It’s not just saying, we already have a system in place, it will mean a consultation process and constitutional changes.

I agree with you. That’s why in my initial statement, I think that we need to look at it, not for the big island of Tortola, but for the little islands like Jost Van Dyke and Anegada and Virgin Gorda. And because these populations are not big populations, but they are populations that are represented by people that are sometimes not from that particular area, so it becomes very difficult for them to get the representation that they need. And then we can gradually expand, but what needs to happen is, we need to make provisions for it, how we work it out, we’ll have to do that.

When the representative lives on Tortola, or the representative never grew up on that particular island, how do you get it to move forward economically? You know, and I think that the provision needs to be made in the constitution. And as you, as you say, I mean, I would have to be elected. But outside of that, this is not something that I just come up with. This is something that the people have expressed an interest in.

So you have done your consultation with residents of District 9, you have listened to the needs and concerns of the seniors and youth. What are the three areas you will focus on, if elected?

My first issue is medical evacuation. There is no airlift. Anegada is the most northerly, about 22 miles from Tortola, which means that you have to cross the rough seas in the event that someone needs medical evacuation. During times when there are rough seas, a boat is not the best option. One of the first things Anegadians would like to see is airlift being put in place by the government because you’re living on an island where you have children, a large children population and a large senior population.
My other issue is the development of industries. I would like to see Anegada start to develop industries and I think that because Anegada is an environmentally friendly place, I think we can look to agriculture and aquaculture.

We can actually create an industry, we have animals, we have livestock, we have the lobster farms, we have the shrimp farms, and we could develop these things.

Those industries will be able to give us some sort of revenue, they will be able to give employment, they will be able to export something to the bigger islands and by extension, it will drive the wheels of the economy.

My third main issue is infrastructural development. Anegada is 22 miles away from Tortola. I think we need to be able to ensure that the airport infrastructure is updated, the docks. We need to make sure that we modernise the facilities so that the country would be able to have proper services to facilitate transportation.

Ideas are generated by speaking to people, understanding their wants and needs. So the next month is going to be spent speaking to people in the business industry, speaking to the school children, speaking to the regular guy on the street, asking them what are your concerns, what do you really need in place to facilitate your business, to facilitate the social aspects of your life.

What is one of the most important issues you would like to see addressed nationally?

We are at a crossroad right now. And I think what is critical for us as a country, is the decision that we make. We need to be able to position the country in the direction that we want to see a national plan. I would love to see a national plan instituted in such a way that it did not change every time with a new government because that’s the problem in this country.

Every time the government changes, the plan changes. A country can go forward in a structured way. So I would like to see a national plan being either enshrined in the constitution that prevents the plan from being changed every time a politician is elected. Yes, changes could occur, but it should be driven by information that can be presented, and good information, and the people must be able to put the argument forward and then of course, the plan can be amended to suit. So I’m a stickler for that.

I think politicians have too much control of the direction in which a country goes. I think a plan needs to be agreed on by the country, by the people and that it doesn’t matter which government comes in, the plan needs to be executed so that we could have a structure in the country.