NDP 'hurting for money; Economy on verge of collapse'- Hon O'Neal (R9)
This has been confirmed by yet another backbencher, this time Dr The Honourable Hubert O'Neal (R9) [Virgin Gorda & Anegada].
Dr O'Neal, a first-time legislator, was speaking to his constituency at the Catholic Community Centre, Valley, Virgin Gorda on Wednesday October 25, 2017.
Government is hurting for money- Hon O'Neal
In a heated exchange, sometimes with a personal jab at the outspoken Director of Tourism Mrs Sharon Flax-Brutus, Hon O'Neal told the residents with much honesty that the current administration "is hurting for money right now...and I am being very very serious…"
He said since the storm "the two main pillars of our economy, Financial Services and Tourism, have shut down...both of them." The Budget "that was passed last year will have a shortfall of $110M," according to Dr O'Neal.
The residents told their representative they rarely saw him after the devastating hurricanes and they were disappointed in this, as he should have been around his district "even if he had to sleep on the floor" like some of them were doing.
While dodging this criticism of him being AWOL following Hurricane Irma and which resulted in loud applause, Hon O'Neal went on to say, "the Government right now is running on its reserves"...and the reserves could only last for about "three months" or "for so long".
Infusion of cash or we collapse
The backbencher told the residents on Virgin Gorda that if the NDP Administration of which he is a part does not obtain an injection of funding "our economy is on the verse of collapse".
In a serious departure from the rosy picture of his boss Premier Smith, Mr O'Neal told the residents that the main pillars of the economy, Tourism and Financial Services, are "shut down."
Speaking on the Premier’s invited trip recently to Washington DC to meet with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), "he secured some loan funding of $50M from the Caribbean Development Bank…to keep the Government going…" Dr O'Neal stated.
Blame the Governor
When pressed about why his administration rushed to the HoA with a Curfew Bill and not a Consumer Protection Bill, he said under the state of emergency "when the Governor was in charge he had the power then to institute some sort of price control." This was met with scorn by persons at the meeting and they told Honourable O'Neal that the state of emergency has long been lifted.
The first term representative has flatly contradicted his leader, Premier Smith, who said as recent as yesterday October 26, 2017 at a hastily arranged press conference with selected members of the press that "we are bouncing back" and that "there will be no layoffs of civil servants."
More divided Government & message
His own Deputy Premier and Minister for Natural Resources and Labour, Dr The Honourable Kedrick D. Pickering (R7), also contradicted the premier when he warned of "dark, dark days ahead".
He told a public meeting a few days ago organised by Apostle Curnal P. Fahie that "this country has a long, long road ahead of it. It's going to be some difficult weeks and months.''
With so many different messages coming out of the administration, both the local population and the international community have been in a state of confusion.
However, most residents believe the premier is lying about the reality on the ground and the country's financial status and his credibility has been eroded and undermined by his own members.
Prior to the two hurricanes and the 2017 August floods and as recent as July 2017 Dr Smith, who survived a coup d’état to remove him as the Minister of Finance, told the people that his government has not left the country broke and that there were millions and millions in the coffers.
Ex-Governor sets the record straight
Former Governor John S. Duncan OBE had disagreed publicly with Premier Smith’s claims, like many others, and he accused the NDP administration of "reckless spending, mismanagement of funds and having no spending priority".
.png)
Follow Us On
31 Responses to “NDP 'hurting for money; Economy on verge of collapse'- Hon O'Neal (R9)”
Please go take a seat ms b#*nes the TRUTH shall set us free
You think the bvi is north Korea or Cuba?
Now is the time to level with us. Come clean. We need to know.
The finical service that our people struggled and build)....remember "this place" was labeled as a bird sanctuary(our forefathers sweat is what made this same place some of you want to give back to the salve master(call me what you want;!i will not loose any sleep)....keep the faith