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NDP Govt attempting to frustrate efforts of VIP in HOA – Hon. Fraser
The Virgin Islands Party (VIP) will be seeking an audience with Speaker of the House, the Honourable Ingrid Moses-Scatliffe following their disapproval of the question and answer segment of the Sixth Sitting of the Second Session of the Second House of Assembly held on February 12, 2013.
This information was exclusively released to Virgin Islands News Online by Hon. Fraser, who accused the National Democratic Party (NDP) Government of devising a strategy as it regards the sitting of the House of Assembly and the Questions and Answers segment of it. He said there are far too few opportunities to interact with Government and to extract information for the public’s benefit.
For all intents and purposes, the VIP is holding firm to the position that they are the ones that can represent the best interest of the people of the country and not the existing government and as such will continue to do everything possible to ensure that the people come first in every level of representation.
“As Members of the Opposition, what we did was to allow the government about a good eight months before we started asking any questions in the House of Assembly in order to give them an opportunity to settle in and get their programmes set and to start delivering goods and services to the people of the county.”
Hon Fraser said the most recent sitting of the House of Assembly on February 12, 2013, “was most troubling to us. Looking at the way the answers were given, it gives the impression that Ministers are not taking our positions as Members of the Opposition or our responsibility to ask questions in the House of Assembly as seriously as they should.”
In his expressed opinion, Hon. Fraser said he did not think the Ministers of Government were properly prepared, having heard statements such as “I am giving the answer that I was given”. Being firm that he was not prepared to point fingers at any particular minister, Hon Fraser said that it was evident that their staff did not do a good job at their ‘homework’, and were actually taking the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) for granted, something he says has to stop.
The Former Minister for Communications and Works said the Opposition is taking the matter of being taken for granted seriously and has made a decision that himself and others of his party will be seeking an audience with the Speaker of the house, the Honourable Ms. Ingrid Moses-Scatliffe, a move they expect would pave a better way for the interest of the public to be addressed properly at the next scheduled sitting of the House of Assembly.
Hon. Fraser described his approach during the recent sitting as being very hospitable as it related to the way the Ministers of Government were answering the questions that were being asked of them. “I give them the benefit of the doubt by saying to myself that they were simply giving me what they were given, which actually was and is unacceptable. It is still unacceptable but I just give them the benefit of the doubt but this level of hospitability can’t continue. We have to do what we have to do now to fix things,” said Hon. Fraser. The best thing right now, Hon. Fraser thinks, is to first approach the Speaker of the House.
Giving his impressions as it relates to the Question and Answer segment and the responses given, Hon. Fraser said he is aware that the Premier [Dr. The Honourable D. Orlando Smith] has been around for as long as he has, “and he is no idiot, he knows exactly what our jobs are and what his job is.”
That statement preceded his discourse on the question which he had asked as it related to the Police Service Commission and the delegation of the Governor’s powers to appoint persons to the police service which he delegated to the Acting Commissioner of Police, “In so doing there has been a situation where two sections of the constitution came into conflict with each other and evidently what happened is the subsidiary sub-section took precedence over the primary sub-section and to me that’s an oversight which resulted in un-intended consequences, something has to be done about that,” said Hon. Fraser.
He continued, “The Premier of this country cannot sit by and see something like that and come to the House of Assembly just giving me an answer that was given to him, I think he should be giving an explanation regarding it. He knows, he must know that there is a problem.”
The problems that are being experienced in the entire Police Service, Hon. Fraser said, are as a result of the anomaly, and the Police Service Commission whose authority has been annulled, would have to be fixed.
Asked if he would describe the Police Service as a “white elephant”, Hon. Fraser responded, “You can call it that but I am not prepared to say that because I know this thing can’t stay where it’s at, it has to go further. It’s untenable so we have to fix it. So at some point we’ll have to look at that.”
The situation as it relates to the Ministry of Communications and Works, the 3rd District Representative said, is most uncomfortable since he has been asking questions particularly regarding the Baugher’s Bay Desalination Plant. “The last time I asked a question the Minister [Hon. Mark H. Vanterpool] told me that because of some sensitive negotiation, or the matter is sensitive and he wish not to involve himself in giving answers.” Hon. Fraser admitted that any Minister can decline answers on such ground as is provided for under Standing Orders.
The standing order 18:6 states “A minister may decline to answer a question if the publication of the answer would in his opinion be contrary to the public’s interest.”
However, Hon Fraser said that he had some major challenges with Hon. Vanterpool’s inability to give required answers especially to one instance when he said that he was unable to effectively respond. “If the minister could come to us and tell us that the cost of oversight by the management of Water and Sewerage Department and the Ministry including the Minister, is not reflected in the cost of producing water, why not get the figures? Your responsibility is to give us answers unless you do not invoke the clause to decline to answer then give us the answers. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what that cost really is,” stated Hon. Fraser.
His assessment was based on the fact that when the staff at the plant was just about five persons, the salary amounted to less than $125,000 annually while under the previous administration. “So how much money could he be spending that could impact upon the cost of water that is given here as $8.65 per thousand gallons!… you would know how much you would have spent on major repairs if there was any. So you can’t come and tell us that you don’t know and it’s not factored in, your duty is to do that, that’s what we are looking for, information for the public,” stated Hon. Fraser.
The occurrence was described as a snub that must be avoided in the future and was attributed to a number of other questions asked in the House of Assembly for which answers were not appropriately and effectively given. In one instance a response had to be struck from the records because it was not documented as is the principle practice, a situation Hon. Fraser said he was not going to speculate as to the intent of the Minister of Communications and Works. “But it had me baffled.”
Asked to describe the experiences of the Sixth Sitting of the Second Session of the Second House of Assembly of February 12, 2013, Hon. Fraser responded, “I’ll chalk this one up to experience. The next time around they’ll look for something different and we’ll have to be vigilant at all times. They’ll play their position from where they sit and we’ll have to play ours.”
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39 Responses to “NDP Govt attempting to frustrate efforts of VIP in HOA – Hon. Fraser”
You mean the Minister dont know The revenue earning potential of the Plant, and yet they were able to outsource the operation contract to Ocean Conversion without a Tender?
Where are those sorry talkshow hosts (Edmun, Ilhue, Krumwell, and that piece or crap Whetley Boy, and oh yea, Jon Cline)? Where are they? I guess you won't here from them because them all pockets will soon be filled with kash money.
Giving this Baughers Bay Plant back to Ocean Conversion is a shame. And the NDP refusal to let Biwater get sea water so they could produce fresh wate is to allow Ocean Conversion to rack up them big bucks at Baughers Bay Plant. This is corruption. Where is the Public Accounts Committee?
Why u dont hush ur dumb @$$. Ndp jus grant biwater permission to get their water.
Money in Ocean Conversion Poket = Money in Mnisters (share holders) Poket = money in Town Planners (share holders) pokets. Get the picher? No I didn't think so, but the readers do. Bunch er krooks.
Changing the government every 4 years or however often the people chooses "IS CALLED DEMOCRACY", so live with it.