$805,000 needed for BVI House Asia for 2014!
However at the time he referred to the annual cost of the BVI London House. The BVI House Asia was opened by the Smith Administration in September 2013.
Now it has been revealed that for 2014 $805,000 is needed to operate the House for a year.
This was confirmed when the Acting Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Premier’s Office Mr. Broderick Penn appeared before the House of Assembly’s Standing Finance Committee (SFC). At the time the SFC was examining the draft estimates for the 2014 Budget.
Mr. Penn told the Committee that he was not sure whether it was an oversight but there was no funding reflected in the 2014 Estimates for the BVI House Asia.
The Acting PS then requested funding in the amount of $805,000 for the running of the House. However, no breakdown was given on how the monies would be spent on the new BVI House Asia.
Controversy over Premier’s wife as interim Director of BVI House Asia
One of the negatives which grabbed the headlines from the importance of the BVI House Asia was the issue of the appointment of Mrs. Lorna Smith OBE, as the interim Director of the Office in Asia.
Critics claimed the interim appointment was a conflict of interest and that there were other persons who should have been given a chance to use their talents. Mrs. Smith, the wife of Premier Dr. Smith, is a retired civil servant who now runs her own consultancy firm.
The Premier took the criticism to heart and, in an interview with a local radio station last year, blasted the media and claimed to be troubled that the media made that his wife was heading the Asia office part of the headline when the focus should have been the opening of the Hong Kong office.
According to Premier Smith, “I was very disappointed and troubled that on the occasion of the establishment of a very significant activity in the Asia Pacific region to our financial services, the headline on the opening of the office on the online media read, Lorna Smith is interim director of Hong Kong office.”
The headline in question was carried by the pro-government online news site, BVI Platinum News, and another online news site BVI News Online.
Under public and private pressure over the appointment, Premier Smith announced late last year at a press conference that his wife Lorna will be wrapping up her assignment as the interim Director in the coming months.
Virgin Islands News Online (VINO) was the first to broke the story that former head of the International Finance Centre Elise Donovan would replace Mrs. Smith. Some month later after our accurate story the Government Information Services confirm the VINO article.
More money for consultancy - $500,000
One of the things the National Democratic Party Government is known for is their frequent use of consultancies. The Acting PS Mr. Penn, also in his presentation to the 2014 SFC, requested an additional $500,000 for consultancy.
He claimed that the money is to be used to implement a strategic action plan for the Financial Services Industry. It remains unclear what the details of the plan are and which local or overseas consultant will be doing the job, or would there be a public tender process.
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19 Responses to “$805,000 needed for BVI House Asia for 2014!”
. Furthermore three of floors are rented that money goes to maintain it. we have alot of virgin islanders in the UK and the london office serves as a homebase
you cannot compare the london office to the hong kong office.
This is NOT good. I guess now that it is being asked for and approved, we should get a break down of the expenditure.
I smell trouble. Don't want to say a rat because if dead it smells stink.