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Gov Duncan knocks both VIP & NDP
He made this scathing accusation during his address to the nation last evening March 17, 2015 when he made an announcement on the Cruise Pier Development Project. In his address, he said he found no useful purpose to commission another inquiry into that project or others such as the Sea Cow’s Bay Harbour Development Project and the Greenhouse Project given the work already undertaken by the Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
“The core challenge that is common to all these development projects is on the one hand the desire of political leaders to press forward with the development of this territory and on the other hand the need to balance that desire with the requirement to be accountable to the electorate and to ensure that public money is spent wisely,” he said.
“In the case of each of the projects mentioned above, where the Auditor General has been asked to investigate, I find that political leaders have been motivated by a desire to develop the Virgin Islands economy and infrastructure of the Territory, to provide the services that a modern society needs and new opportunities for business. It is for example clear, that there has been a common view across political parties that the Virgin Islands needed a new hospital and a new cruise ship terminal. And it appears to me that as citizens of any democratic society, this is the sort of vision we expect from our political leaders,” he said.
“But clearly, difficulties have arisen over the way these projects have been taken forward. All too often Ministers (in both the current and previous administrations) have allowed their desire to achieve rapid progress and demonstrate results to obscure the need to ensure that the teams charged with delivering the project have followed the procedures set out to ensure value for money and transparency,” said Governor Duncan.
The Governor said that frustration with public service procedures is to an extent understandable and that the Caribbean Development Bank’s report recognises that some of these procedures are out-dated and overly bureaucratic. “The Auditor General’s reports recognise that capacity and expertise shortfalls have caused Minsters to seek expensive private sector advice.”
“Both of the independent reviews that the Premier and I have commissioned recommend that the current Virgins Islands’ procedures for procurement and tendering are in urgent need of revision,” he said.
He said that the Caribbean Development Bank’s report makes thirteen separate recommendations to strengthen the existing procedures to bring them into line with best practice in other island economies.
“The independent expert consultant confirms these recommendations and both agree on the need for the Virgin Islands to enact a stand-alone Public Procurement Act similar to what exists in Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands,” he said.
“If the expert advice is that we need to modernise the procedures for procurement and tendering for our large-scale infrastructure projects, it is equally clear from the reports of the Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee that transparency of government decision-making and accountability also need attention,” said the Governor.
Efforts up to post time to get a response from Premier Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith and former Premier Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal OBE (R9) on the Governor’s statements proved futile.
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24 Responses to “Gov Duncan knocks both VIP & NDP”
PEP maybe the best choice.
Come see me in the Ministry of Labour. Probably you are the one that needs a job.
The real stats will be out soon on unemployment.