Disabilities

INSIDE: ICIJ journalist defends leak coverage — page 23

The light that comes from wisdom never goes out.

Thursday, April 18, 2013 |

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Gov’t responds SPECIAL REPORT to financial services leak Activists: Reform

The disabled face challenges in the VI

Investigates ‘illicit’ disclosure

By JASON SMITH jsmith@bvibeacon.com

When Elise Donovan wanted to make her point about what she called “sensationalist” reporting stemming from a purported data leak affecting the territory’s financial services industry, she asked a group of Virgin Islands reporters and Elise Donovan talk show hosts to think about their bank account balances.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t want that information, which is legal — it’s above board and in compliance with the laws of the British Virgin Islands or wherever you have your various accounts — I’m sure you wouldn’t want that information plastered all over the Leak see page 23

needed urgently

By ERIC VOORHIS evoorhis@bvibeacon.com

M

el Sim inched his electric wheelchair across the cracked sidewalk next to the Noel Lloyd Positive Action Movement Park in Road Town on a recent

O“What N THE WEB do you think needs to happen to bring positive change for disabled people in the territory?”

Go to bvibeacon.com and select “forums” to join the discussion.

Sunday morning. Down the road, the Riviera cruise ship, on which he and his wife Letti had arrived, was docked at the pier. Mr. Sim’s wife strolled alongside, her hand resting on the back of his wheelchair as it rolled down a steep incline onto the street.

It had been a difficult morning.

Diabilities see page 18

By JASON SMITH jsmith@bvibeacon.com Beacon Business..........................12 Vol. 28 No. 30 • 2 sections, 40 pages Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands © 2012, The BVI BEACON

Paratriathlete Geoff Kennedy, right, rides next to Akil Burrow, to whom he donated a “hand-crank wheelchair” on April 6 during the BVI Special Olympics “Fun Frolic Day” at the Bitter End Yacht Club.

Desire for development, but fear of developers Gun Creek’s future discussed at meeting

INSIDE

Photo: ERIC VOORHIS

As dozens of North Sound residents packed into the classroom at Robinson O’Neal Memorial Primary School, Brodrick Penn asked them to envision a blank slate. And he wasn’t referring to the blackboard behind him, but to the centre of a

map of the Gun Creek area projected upon it.

Starting from his right, he motioned to Walford Farrington’s docks, and then pointed out “a lot of empty land,” the Owen Harrigan Visitor Centre, a cluster of mangroves, a parking area and two boat yards.

“Effectively, we’re really looking at a blank slate right now,” Mr. Penn, the deputy secretary in the Premier’s Office, said at the April 10 public meeting to discuss Gun Creek’s future. “That’s why we feel

it’s really important for you to be here to give us your views on how we can transform this blank slate into something more beneficial for the residents of Virgin Gorda.”

Development concept With a 20-minute presentation, Mr. Penn sketched the outlines of a preliminary development concept for the area: a boardwalk encircling Gun Creek followed by government-built structures on Crown land that could be rented out to VG business owners.

“We see kiosks that are oper-

ated by you,” he said. “We see villas and condos on the hillsides.

We see possibly hotel space, restaurant space, hiking trails, and possibly sports and recreation.

We’re really trying to open your imagination into what Gun Creek could be.”

Neither he nor Premier Dr. Orlando Smith and other Cabinet ministers at the meeting offered a timeframe or cost estimate for the project, which the premier said

Proposal see page 21

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Special Report

Disabilities: Activists say new law needed Continued from page 1 “It’s just not a wheelchairfriendly place,” Mr. Sim said of Road Town.

After exploring the capital that morning, Mr. Sim and his wife — who live in Boat of Garten, Scotland — said they encountered multiple problems: large potholes, a lack of manageable curb ramps, and narrow, uneven sidewalks. At one point, they had to ask two strangers for help to get the heavy chair onto a sidewalk, Mr. Sim said.

And forget about Main Street, he added: “There just wasn’t any room.”

It’s a typical scene: When cruise ship passengers flood Road Town during peak tourism season, it’s common to see wheelchairusers struggling to dismount a curb when a gentle slope is nowhere in sight. Instead of taking a straight path, they zigzag through parking lots to avoid troublesome areas, and are sometimes forced onto the shoulder of the road as cars whiz by.

After taking a brief tour of Road Town, Mr. Sim paused for a moment on Admin Drive. He said he was looking forward to heading back to the cruise ship, whose website touts wheelchairfriendly features including “embarkation and debarkation assistance, accessible gaming, corridors that allow for 180 degree wheelchair turns, and accessible staterooms.”

Need for change Mr. Sim is one of many who find the Virgin Islands to be unfriendly for people with disabilities, ranging from sensory impairments — deafness and blindness, for example — to physical and developmental disabilities such as autism and Down syndrome. Many social activists and leaders believe there is a desperate need for change in several areas: infrastructure, accessibility and education, for example. But for many, the most urgent step toward such reforms is establishing legislation to protect people with disabilities, who in much of the world are excluded from the mainstream of society and denied human rights, according to the United Nations’ “Overview of International Legal Frameworks for

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Disabilities Legislation.”

Disabled visitors often struggle throughout their time in the VI, especially when they have travelled from parts of the world where standards are strictly regulated by legislation such as the Americans with Disabilities Act in the United States and the Equalities Act in the United Kingdom. But disabled residents face stark challenges every day.

‘Behind on the times’ Geoffrey Kennedy, who lived on Tortola when his parents managed Frenchmans Cay Hotel from 1990 to 2006, spoke about such day-to-day struggles during an interview in February. Mr. Kennedy — now an athlete with the United States Paratriathlon Team — was paralysed from the waist down when he was shot during a holdup in St. Thomas in 2000.

Then 19, he returned to Tortola for several years before moving to Puerto Rico, partly to pursue athletic training, but also because he faced so many challenges here. He said he still has several friends in the VI, and he visits when he can.

During a recent interview from Puerto Rico, he said, “I’m over here and I don’t feel disabled, but going over there you definitely feel it. You notice it more and you get pissed off about it.”

Following his injury, Mr. Kennedy said he went out often with friends, frequenting local

bars such as Le Cabanon (now Le Grand Café) and the Bat Cave.

But it wasn’t always easy.

“I had a lot of friends who would help lift me up and down steps, onto curbs,” he said. Another inconvenience became quite obvious: a lack of wheelchair-accessible restrooms in many establishments. “That was a big one, because I’d basically have to just find a spot in the parking lot.”

Issues ranged from problems with infrastructure and facilities to the general attitude toward those with disabilities in this territory, said Mr. Kennedy, who returned to the VI this month to participate in a BVI Special Olympics event in which he donated a hand-crank wheelchair to VI resident Akil Burrow.

“Tortola is just really behind on the times,” he added. “It can be really tough to get around.”

This, coming from an athlete who has completed the gruelling Ironman triathlon — consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride, and a full, 26.2-mile, marathon — in which he used modified wheelchairs for the biking and running portions of the race.

‘Out of the shadows’ In recent months, the issue of disabilities has been making headlines in the territory, stirring comments on the Internet and on call-in radio shows.

“If I hadn’t become handicapped, I wouldn’t have noticed such a need for amenities for us,” said Eileene Parsons, a former legislator who lost the use of her legs due to diabetes complications, during the National Democratic Party’s Feb. 18 radio programme on ZBVI. “We have to do better.”

There are disabled residents living in every district of the VI, according to Education and Culture Minister Myron Walwyn, who has been outspoken about the issue since kicking off his candidacy for at-large representative in April 2011.

“I pledge my support as the minister of education and culture to do my best to bring the issue of differently-abled citizens out of the shadows,” he said in a speech that year.

Though Mr. Walwyn acknowledges that the territory is

Disabilities see page 19

Photo: ERIC VOORHIS Participants take instructions before a relay race during the Eslyn Henley Richiez Learning Centre’s “Historical Sports Day” at the A.O. Shirley Recreation Grounds on March 21.

A CALL FOR MORE INCLUSION

By ERIC VOORHIS evoorhis@bvibeacon.com

S

ome students who are sent to the Eslyn Henley Richiez Learning Centre don’t necessarily belong there, Principal Vansittart Huggins said in a recent interview: They belong “with their peers, learning in a mainstream school.”

Like many other educators, parents and some lawmakers, Ms. Huggins believes the current system is largely failing to provide a sound education for students with special needs and disabilities.

It’s largely undisputed that such students achieve better school results in inclusive settings, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

They tend to show academic gains in many areas, such as increased performance on standardised tests, better grades and more motivation to learn, Ms. Huggins said.

While the term “inclusion” is not mentioned, the Virgin Islands Education Act 2004 does formally acknowledge that there are students with various challenges who are entitled to an education.

“The chief education officer is responsible for providing special education programmes for students of compulsory school age who by virtue of intellectual, communicative, behavioural or physical exceptionalities are in need of special education,” the legislation states.

Government has taken some steps toward that end in recent years. In 2001, for example, a Student Services Centre was established, which employs an educational psychologist, an officer for special

education, and a speech therapist. And last year an Autism Centre opened. But, currently, inclusion is not happening enough, Ms. Huggins said. And when it does, it’s not always successful.

“Even though some of them are in the mainstream, are their needs being met? Or are they just taking up space? That’s no way to learn,” she said from behind her desk as Eslyn Henley students began filing out of a nearby classroom at the end of the day.

At present, there is no formal strategy for students with special needs to transition from primary to secondary school, she said. Another obstacle is a lack of training for teachers.

“We need to sell the idea of inclusion to all teachers,” the principal said. “We have some teachers who might think it’s overwhelming to have students with different abilities in the classroom, so we need to work on that.”

Better inclusion of disabled students will also require more experts in the territory to help facilitate the process, Education and Culture Minister Myron Walwyn said during a recent interview.

“We need two more speech therapists in the system,” he said. “And two more occupational therapists, I think.”

He also spoke about the need for training to help teachers detect problems like Attention Deficit Disorder, “so that they’re aware of certain behaviours instead of just dismissing it as a child being rude or obnoxious.”

Implementing inclusion learning in the territory will take time, Mr. Walwyn said, “but we have to start somewhere.”

Special Report Disabilities from page 18 behind in terms of catering to those with disabilities, he said he’s hopeful change will come soon.

“Obviously, we’ve not been as successful as we should have been in addressing this issue,” he said, sitting behind his desk at the Ministry of Education and Culture during a Feb. 15 interview.

Mr. Walwyn cited the success of the territory’s new Autism Centre, which opened in October, and said his ministry works closely with the Ministry of Health and Social Development on disabilityrelated issues.

“I think we both recognise that it ’s a shared vision,” he said, adding, “but we need to take it further.”

When an issue concerning the territory’s financial services industry comes up in the House of Assembly, Mr. Walwyn said, there is rarely any contention, and he would like to see similar collaboration on social issues.

“We move swiftly on [financial services] matters — it’s ‘Kumbaya,’” Mr. Walwyn said. “And it should be the same for these social issues. There shouldn’t be any question when you’re dealing with people’s lives and their potential.”

He also discussed his efforts to better include special-needs students in public schools, along with larger issues such as improved accessibility throughout the territory.

Although “there’s always more to be done,” Mr. Walwyn said government is on the right track. “I think we’re making significant progress,” the minister added.

Good talk, no action Some activists, however, say they’ve heard similar government promises before.

“From government in to government out, the talk is always convincing,” Einstein Samuels, president of Parents and Caregivers of Children with Special Needs, said in January. “But there’s never any action.”

For more than a decade, Ms. Samuels has been lobbying for the rights of people with disabilities in the territory, and she often voices her opinions in public forums.

On Nov. 14, she wrote a Facebook post about watching two wheelchair-users struggling to navigate through Road Town.

“Trying to get on and off sidewalks is a mess on its own,” she wrote. “But when they got up, the

The BVI Beacon | Thursday, April 18, 2013

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HONORARY BELONGER PUSHES ‘DISABLED TOURISM’

By ERIC VOORHIS evoorhis@bvibeacon.com

G

eoff Holt wanted to help improve the lives of those with disabilities in the territory, he said in a recent interview. And he took an unconventional approach to that end in the summer of 2010.

“My interest was primarily to help the people of the BVI, but I realised just talking about the problem was a very unsexy way of getting politicians to listen,” he said from his home in the United Kingdom via a Skype connection in February.

“Where people start to listen is when you talk about money, and in the BVI you can’t not Geoff Holt talk about tourism.”

Mr. Holt, a quadriplegic who was in a swimming accident in Cane Garden Bay in 1984, was given honorary belonger status in January 2010 when he arrived here after a trans-Atlantic sail on a 60-foot catamaran.

Later that year, in July 2010, Mr. Holt sent a proposal to the Ministry of Health and Social Development asking for a contract to provide a realistic plan to make the Virgin sidewalk was so cracked up they couldn’t push off.”

To add insult to injury, a passing driver “gave them a good splash” from a nearby puddle, Ms. Samuels wrote.

“We can do better than this, not only for our tourists, but for all disabled persons who have to use our roads and facilities,” she added. “These tourists are not limited by their disabilities until they reach the BVI, and I am disgusted about it.”

A few weeks later, Ms. Samuels sat down for an interview and spoke at length about the need for more awareness in the community — and the need for legislation to protect those with disabilities.

“That’s where it all starts,” the managing director of Samuels Lawrence Business Services said from behind the desk of her small office near the bottom of Joes Hill.

In the next room, her son — whom she home schools, in part, because of a learning disability — was busy doing his homework, checking in every so often. “The laws need to get on the books,” she said.

She also spoke about her own struggles with her son’s disabilities: He currently takes courses online, along with her own home schooling, which she said is a good fit.

“But if I didn’t find the courage to work with him in my home, he

Islands a place where disabled tourists would feel comfortable vacationing.

“For the purposes of this document, I am specifically addressing the shortcomings of disabled facilities and access to goods and services in the British Virgin Islands for the tourist sector only,” the proposal states.

“This document does not aim to address the needs and requirements of disabled residents in the BVI. However, improvements, both legislative and physical, to attract disabled tourists, will have a direct knock-on benefit for disabled residents.”

In his 2010 proposal, he estimated that delving into the niche market of “disabled tourism” could increase tourism revenue by “up to 16 percent.”

“These demographics are comparable to the rest of Europe and United States,” Mr. Holt wrote. “In the UK alone, the estimated disposable income of disabled people is £6.2 billion. Disabled people take holidays, too, so it’s a reasonable assumption to make that by marketing to the disabled sector, tourism in the BVI could increase revenue.”

He proposed to design a “ready-made and fullycosted” solution that would address a wide-range of issues — including accessible transport and access to beaches, buildings, restaurants and hotels for those with disabilities. The plan, he said, would be broken down into three phases, starting with a detailed audit of current

would still be putting magnets together on the fridge spelling C-AT,” she said. “And I always knew he could do so much more.”

Policy drafted In 2011, Ms. Samuels said, she saw promising action from the Ministry of Health and Social Development, particularly under the leadership of thenDeputy Premier Dancia Penn, who was the minister of heath and social development.

During Ms. Penn’s time in office, initial drafts of a disabilities policy were put together, similar to human rights laws in other parts of the world, according to Ms. Samuels. A consultant was hired to help research and draft the policy, she said, adding, “They took off full speed, but it never went anywhere.”

According to Petrona Davies, the ministry’s permanent secretary, a draft of a policy dealing with disability rights does exist, though she said it isn’t available publicly “because it hasn’t been endorsed” by government.

“We have a draft policy that we would hope once approved would inform new legislation,” she said on March 14. “Once we have a national policy — an agreement to how we would want to approach this — then the legislation would be guided by that.”

tourism facilities and a database to log the results.

Phase two would involve producing literature such as a “Where To” guide for disabled visitors.

The final phase would market the concept. Mr. Holt suggested specific marketable ideas, such as promoting “sailing holidays to the deaf or blind;” sending VI representatives to international disability trade shows; and working with disability-specific media to promote the territory.

But after making a presentation to officials in 2010 and visiting several times in 2011 at his own expense, nothing ever came to fruition, he said.

In June 2012, Mr. Holt circulated a press release that detailed his frustration, titled, “BVI: A disabled no-go zone.”

“I love the BVI and would dearly love to live there, but it’s impossible without accessible transport,” he wrote, “let alone an accessible sidewalk network in Road Town — a capital town riddled with potholes, broken paving slabs, and ramps that lead to nowhere.”

At this point, Mr. Holt said he’s given up on the project, disappointed by government’s silence.

“Despite numerous attempts on my part to follow this up, no one has even given me the courtesy of a response,” he said in the release. “I think people were just paying lip-service to me.”

Ms. Davies said a committee is reviewing the draft policy, which was put together by a hired consultant.

Though she was reluctant to discuss details, the permanent secretary said the document is “quite wide-ranging.”

“It has to do with access and opportunities in the society, education — it’s looking at what barriers exist in the community to ensure everyone can benefit,” she said. “We looked at some examples of legislation other countries had put together so we wouldn’t be reinventing the wheel.”

Ms. Davies added that the government has made some strides, such as the Autism Centre, and that her ministry is “keenly aware of the needs in the community.”

“We’re sensitive to the fact that we have work to do,” she said.

Due to her personal experience, one of Ms. Samuels’ biggest concerns, and the crux of her organisation’s work, deals with education, and the need for more inclusion of disabled students in public schools. And, she added, disabled residents should be better included in the community in general.

“People tend to be more sorry feeling, offering pity for a person with a disability,” Ms. Samuels said. “But they don’t need pity.

They just want a chance to live like everyone else.”

She said she has seen some promise from the current Ministry of Education and Culture. Her group has met several times with Mr. Walwyn, and she hopes the meetings will lead to action.

“I would just like to see change,” Ms. Samuels said, as her son finished up his homework in the next room. “It’s time.”

Infrastructure and accessibility Along with new legislation, other changes will be needed, particularly in dealing with infrastructure and access, activists and government leaders agree.

But such changes will take time, according to Road Town City Manager Janis Braithwaite-Edwards.

“It’s an issue that we are desperately trying to address,” she said in an interview on Feb. 26. “It’s something we’re working on — making Road Town more pedestrian-friendly and more accessible.”

Ms. Braithwaite-Edwards said her office studies the dynamics of the flow of pedestrian traffic through Road Town, and that the issue of making easily accessible routes and sidewalks for those with disabilities is “an ongoing discussion.”

Disabilities see page 20

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Special Report

Disabilities from page 19 “It’s going slowly, but it’s coming,” she said. “We are working to make it more convenient to move around town for everyone, and that includes people who are differently-abled.”

The city manager also mentioned that her office plans to begin discussions with the Town and Country Planning Department about the issue. Ron Beard, acting chief planner in the TCPD, is familiar with the problem, but he said no official regulations exist for his agency in terms of accommodating those with disabilities.

“It’s something that we’re conscious of, but there’s not any direct policy on mobility access,” he said.

“We recognise that it’s something that should be incorporated in all public works, but this is something that hasn’t been formalised.”

A glaring example of a public building without wheelchair access is the Road Town library: Its entrance is up two steep flights of stairs behind the Rite Way on Flemming Street.

Another problem that stands out, according to both Mr. Beard and Ms. Braithwaite-Edwards, is Main Street. Each morning pedestrians who walk down the sides of the narrow road dodge vehicles that pass inches away. As Mr. Sim pointed out, there is hardly an existing sidewalk and very little space.

“It’s a bit of a hot topic at the present time,” Mr. Beard said, “and we hope to solve it.”

In general, he added that he sees promise in the territory addressing the issue of accessibility for disabled visitors and residents: “Clearly this won’t happen overnight, but there is an awareness.”

Not accommodating While people with disabilities often arrive on cruise ships, which tend to be fairly accommodating, the territory may be an ill-advised choice for those travelling by air or by sea.

The accessibility for those with physical disabilities on most ferries is “dismal;” likewise, it would be difficult to find a wheelchair accessible taxi on the whole island, according to Colin Bramble. He knows from experience.

In May 2012, Mr. Bramble — who cofounded a sailing pro-

Photo: ERIC VOORHIS A tourist pushes a wheelchair down Admin Drive near the cruise ship pier during the peak of tourism season. gramme in the VI that integrates students with disabilities — received an e-mail from a couple who found him through his work with the disabled community. Tod and Sherry Santee, who live in the US, were considering taking a day-trip to Tortola from St. Thomas. Mr. Santee uses a heavy, motorised scooter.

“Do you have any suggestions for visiting Tortola?” he asked in the e-mail. “If you know of any accessible transportation [for a wheelchair], can you send information about who I might contact to find out more?”

Mr. Bramble couldn’t offer much help.

“The BVI has only ever had two vehicles equipped with lifts and both of these are no longer functioning,” he said, adding that his organisation, Sailability BVI, which he founded with his wife Alison Knights-Bramble, had campaigned “vigorously” with government officials to make wheelchair transportation available in the territory. “I am sorry that we cannot offer you more.”

The Santees were sympathetic, telling Mr. Bramble they understand that certain areas in nature

are simply not accessible, and building walkways and ramps could be cost-prohibitive or impact natural beauty.

“However, in almost any place where there are roads, singlestorey shops, tourist attractions and flat trails through nature, the opportunity for accessibility is usually only a matter of changing attitudes towards the disabled community within the government bureaucracies and the minds of business leaders,” they wrote, adding, “easier said than done.”

Sailor’s visit Mr. Bramble ran into similar problems with transportation when Geoff Holt, now a close friend of his, came to the territory in January 2010 after completing a 2,700-mile journey across the Atlantic on a 60-foot sailing catamaran. Mr. Holt, a quadriplegic who was in a swimming accident in 1984 in Cane Garden Bay, was given honorary belonger status shortly after his arrival.

Despite the warm welcome, his time in the VI was often frustrating, according to Mr. Bramble.

“Transportation was a big thing,” he said. “I remember one

day coming back over from Cane Garden Bay; he had to ride in the trunk of a taxi like a piece of luggage. It was very uncomfortable for him — and humiliating.

Just awful.”

In an interview last month, Mr. Holt said he has tried to work with government officials to improve the situation “for the people of the BVI” and visitors alike. But he never made it far.

“I’m a bit fed up and frustrated,” he said in a recent interview. “Everything I’ve suggested has been ignored.”

Mr. Holt contrasted the VI and countries like the US and the UK, which both have legislation in place to guard the human rights of people with disabilities.

“For example, if a certain building doesn’t have reasonable access, I could probably take them to court and sue them [in the US or UK],” he said. “But those laws don’t exist here.”

While the territory’s Constitution does prohibit discrimination — on the basis of disabilities as well as sex, race, skin colour, language, religion, economic status, age, birth, sexual orientation and marital status — there is no spe-

cific law dedicated to addressing disability issues.

After some research, Mr. Holt, who conducts disability audits professionally, found the VI lacks accommodations for disabled people in every aspect of the tourism industry, including the yacht charter industry, hotels, restaurants and parks.

Like others interviewed for this article, he emphasised that the discussion should not only include people with physical disabilities, but also those living with sensory and developmental disabilities.

“Less than five percent of disabled people use wheelchairs,” Mr. Holt explained. “But what is being done to accommodate those with a learning disability? The blind?

The deaf ? Other physical disabilities, who can walk?”

Besides serious reform, he said, the VI needs a better understanding of disabilities in general.

“I’ve been on better sidewalks in third world countries in Africa,” he added. “This may sound harsh, but the BVI doesn’t even score a one out of ten in terms of accessibility or inclusivity by international standards.”