In 2003, a petition signed by 200 people in Montserrat, called upon the British government to sack the resident governor, at that time, Tony Longrigg, stating that his policies were ruining the economy of the territory. Longrigg had prevented villa owners from returning to certain areas of the territory threatened by volcanic eruption, a decision he made based on scientific advice provided by the director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) and the Scientific Advisory Committee.[1]