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ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- Never shy to speak his mind on any issue in the Virgin Islands (VI), Bishop John I. Cline of the New Life Baptist Church in Duff’s Bottom on Tortola has implied that the British are racist in the way they are dealing with funding of its British Overseas Territory post hurricanes Irma and Maria.
The man of the cloth was at the time being interviewed on Fresh Radio Vybz, the online radio station hosted by Paul A. Peart aka ‘Gadiethz’. Mr Cline told the host on Monday November 20, 2017 “they have no interest in seeing the prosperity of people of colour in the Caribbean.”
Race matters
He said he does not trust the genuiness of Britain, the mother country, to help us “or else they would just helped us…we have been hit with the most devastating storm in the history of recording storms and you going say to us, that we have to think about how we help you, we have to think about giving you money, and you call us your Territory?”
The founder of the Save the Seed Energy Centre in Duff’s Bottom, Mr Cline also said, “if it was a white country they would have been in there pouring money, fixing roads, already helping them to get their infrastructure back up. You cannot convince me that they have not held back their hands because we are people of African descendent and their attitude towards people of African descent has always been one of domination.”
Like many other voices in the VI, the Bishop has warned against taking loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. He said they will lead to multinational companies coming in to do business in your country and “it will crush every local business in the BVI.” We need to stand up and say we will accept your help but not under certain conditions, Mr Cline told the host of the former Morning Ride Show on ZROD 103.7 FM. “We are not going to sell our souls and leave our children in slavery again,” the passionate preacher stated.
The Prince & the Bishop
Speaking on the November 18, 2017 visit to the VI by the Prince of Wales Charles P. A. George, Bishop Cline said: “What we need is tangible help not a visit” for people who have no insurance to fix back their homes. He said he does not support dancing in the streets for the Prince and he preferred financial help over the cost of hosting Prince Charles.
Bishop Cline also told Mr Peart that he had a successful 2017 Power Plus- a week of nightly religious activities- and was happy to have included local preachers, something that was not a tradition. Mr Cline further stated that he left the week feeling “encouraged, and as a man of God, I have been given a mandate to speak truth to power.”