Gov’t working on May 2024 as substantive deadline for CoI reforms- Premier
The Premier’s statement came during a Friday, February 9, 2023, press briefing and update on Minister of Overseas Territories, Mr. David Rutley's Visit to the Virgin Islands as well as the CoI reform process.
“Let me say that we are still working with May 2024 as our substantive deadline for full implementation. We have to keep the pace up and do our best to meet as many targets as possible. If there are still any outstanding deliverables by then, these must be very few,” he said.
He said the the framework for implementation included proposals that were not included in the COI recommendations but which the Government felt would be beneficial to the broader goals that we are trying to achieve, and which would enhance the results to be achieved from the recommendations.
“The 50 recommendations and other initiatives have been broken down into 131 Actions. Some recommendations have more tasks than others. All Actions are not weighted equally, as some Actions require more work or are more complicated than others. This is a shared responsibility between the Elected Government, the Governor’s Group, and the House of Assembly. I will focus mainly on the areas under the Elected Government and the House of Assembly,”.
More items closed-off - Premier
Dr Wheatley added that following the visit of Minister Rutley, there are seven Actions that we are able to close off either because they are covered in other deliverables within the Framework, or because they are not in the Framework, although in the latter case, these Actions will be completed.
He said those include Amendment to the Jury Act (Action B43.02) which is dependent on an amendment to the Constitution. Declarations of Interests for Members of the House of Assembly and the policy for HOA Members contracting with the Government (Actions B05.04 and B05.05) are covered by Recommendation B4 as well as the Constitutional Review. Action B26.01, legislative amendments based on the Statutory Board Policy, has been closed pending approval of B25.02, Policy and Action Plan, which is on the Amber priority list.
Premier Wheatley said the majority of the remaining work is well on the way to a timely completion while adding, however, that the process is not a box-ticking exercise.
“The Government is serious in our commitment that the reforms must be done properly and implemented properly so that they will be effective, and so that they will truly benefit the Virgin Islands people,” Premier Wheatley detailed.
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16 Responses to “Gov’t working on May 2024 as substantive deadline for CoI reforms- Premier ”
Strups! Now your officially an accident premier ,
If Lorna never cross the border
As per the Topic Issue, our Premier is still trying to downplay the need to fulfill the 50 CoI recommendations as if enough time was not given, and the complexity to have gotten done was too complicated or overburdened. This narrative is not true. He and his team of leaders, in many and my opinion delayed their implementation within the time given for selfish political confrontational reasons.
Believe it or not, no more unproven delays will be tolerated by the UK's government on this matter of urgent need for the betterment of the people of the BVI going forward. This year 2024 begins a era in the evolution of political reforms in the BVI. We no more allow our employees (political leaders) signs blank check to spend our finaces at their pleasure. Enough is enough, even too much.
If only recent generations of Virgin Islanders had been blessed with your insight. One would hope that the current diabolical state of affairs that the BVI has got itself into would serve as a warning. And in particular, a timely warning to the youth of the beloved island that was once my home.
ON THEIR FACES / WHEN THEIR ACTIONS TELLS A DIFFERENT STORY , WHICH IS BRINGING YHEM BACK TO REALITY ( TRYING RACISM LYRICS WONT WORK EITHER ~ HOPEFULLY THEY GOT YOUR MESSAGE ????