in All News / By: BVI News on September 9, 2025 at 7:24 AM /
Talk-show host Claude Skelton Cline has accused the Department of Trade of frustrating Virgin Islanders who want to do business, saying the licensing process is broken and stifling local entrepreneurship.
“Getting a trade license is having to have muscles like Hulk and patience like Job,” Skelton Cline said recently on his Honestly Speaking radio programme. “As a Virgin Islander, you can’t drive down the street and go upstairs and get a trade license. Too many unnecessary steps, too much time lapsed in between. We have systems, processes and procedures that no longer work for us.”
The outspoken commentator argued that locals are being forced to “diminish themselves just to navigate through the system,” and he compared the difficult local process to the ease of acquiring similar licences in the United States. He described the process as “a double scribbled backwards” and claimed the inefficiencies are a sign of poor leadership.
Skelton Cline’s comments echo years of complaints from the business community. Entrepreneurs across the territory have long said that starting and sustaining a business in the BVI is too difficult. They point to lengthy delays in obtaining trade licenses, overlapping requirements from different government agencies, and outdated laws that make the process even more cumbersome.
Further complicating matters is the ongoing suspension of the Virgin Islands Trade Commission, the body intended to modernise and oversee trade regulation. More than 18 months later, the commission remains inactive, leaving many to question the government’s commitment to easing the way of doing business.
Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn has also described the trade and licensing framework as a source of “pure frustration,” warning that the system is turning investors away. Former Junior Minister for Trade Marlon Penn has gone further, accusing the department of stagnation and criticising the government for failing to deliver long-promised reforms.
Business owners say the challenges are taking a toll at a time when they are already facing rising costs, reduced consumer spending, and global economic pressures. Many have urged the government to create a more supportive environment for small and medium-sized enterprises, which form the backbone of the local economy.
In the meantime, Skelton Cline insists the matter cannot be ignored.
“We are killing off ourselves in this country just for mom and pop to conduct business,” he said. “There is no leadership, and if you are in a leadership position and you are not a leader, you will come, meet things, and leave them exactly the way they are while the people remain frustrated.”
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