Talk Show Host Courtney DeCastro believes the General Orders are antiquated and in need of change. Photo: VINO/File

Governor Boyd McCleary, according to Mr. deCastro, is in charge of the civil service, police and external affairs and as such has direct involvement and a lot of power as well under the present constitution but questions whether the Governor should continue to wield so much authority over the Civil Service. Photo: VINO/File

The host of the programme, which was aired last evening, October 6, 2012, made this observation in addition to raising the issue of a connection with the General Orders and Mr Julian Willock’s recent removal from the Public Service.

“It’s, old, it’s antiquated and it needs to be looked at,” de Castro declared. “Part of the General Orders say that we serve at the Governor’s discretion,” he added.

The host continued that “in layman’s terms, what that simply means is if the Governor doesn't want you working anymore, he could simply tell you to… that’s it".

The Governor, Mr. de Castro noted, is in charge of the civil service, police and external affairs and as such has direct involvement and a lot of power as well under the present constitution.

“[In] matters of the civil service, our legislators do not have the kind of power that the Governor has,” he remarked. “That is in our constitution, we know this.”

The host also encouraged callers to call into the programme and make their contributions towards the issue. “Let me know if you agree or disagree with what was done, if you think it’s a fair system, if you think it’s a good system for other Virgin Islanders to find themselves in that position or you think that it is an unfair situation and we should look to get it modernized, in other ways bring it up to 2012,” he said.

However, he received few takers on the divisive, hot button issue. He further asked listeners, “How do you feel about what happened to Mr Willock and how do you feel about what was used?...The general orders that were used to put him on leave for a long period of time and then dismiss him, the fact that the issue was in court… the whole way it was handled?”

DeCastro then explained that “Willock is not the first person that something like this was done to, it was done to other people before and it probably will be done to more people in the future".

The host also questioned why there are so many persons in acting positions for four or five years. He said that in a nearby jurisdiction this would not happen as something would have to be done about it.

“Should we continue… just hiring people and put them on acting positions for long periods of time or as long as we feel like?...Should we just fire people without giving them any reason? Is this how we run a country?” deCastro asked.