Update: VI’s Parliament opens today with 2nd speech from the throne in 9 months!
Last time around the National Democratic Party (NDP) Administration of Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith yanked the Speech from the throne, a long held tradition in Westminster systems of Government whereby the representative of Her Majesty the Queen will read a speech written by the government of the day outlining the Government’s legislative policies and agenda.
The NDP had exchanged the tradition for a "State of the Territory Address" which was an American style speech read by the then Chief Minister Smith during their first term in office 2003-2007.
However, it appears that they have gone back to tradition and now we see two speeches within nine months. The last speech was read on December 8, 2011 to open the new NDP Administration’s legislative term in office.
According to today’s Order Paper the Premier and Minister for Finance Dr. Smith is to move a motion for His Excellency, the Governor Boyd McCleary to address the House of Assembly. Many will be looking for new initiatives, or to hear of achievements from the last speech, or will it be a cut and paste of the one given to the Territory in December of last year?
Meanwhile after the Virgin Islands House of Assembly (HOA) was prorogued without a whisper and like a state secret on 26th July, 2012 it will convene again this morning, Monday 3rd, September 2012.
The proroguing of the HOA caught many elected Members on both sides and the public by surprise as no public announcement was made with only 8 eight months in the life of the first session of the second HOA.
However, today, Monday the first sitting of the second session of the second HOA will take place in Road Town, on the main Island of Tortola.
The meeting will start at 10:00 am presided over by Speaker of the House of Assembly Honourable Ingrid Moses-Scatliffe, and Leader of Government Business in the House Honourable Dr. D. Orlando Smith.
The highlight of this sitting will be some 60 plus questions that will be fired off by Virgin Islands Party Opposition Members Honourables Julian Fraser RA, district 3, and Andrew A. Fahie district 1.
Questions to the front bench Government Ministers will range from financial matters, the Protocols signed early this year between the VI and UK Governments, the National Health Insurance scheme, cost of the trip to London, who is mandated to sit CXC, among others.
If that was not enough, the Government Ministers will have to answer questions on the reserve fund, the CDB Loan, the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, the Sabbath Hill Reservoir and Biwater to name a few.
This area of the order paper should be exciting according to most political observers.
The HOA sitting will also see the laying of many departmental reports by Premier Dr. Smith and Deputy Premier Dr. Pickering and Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Ronnie W. Skelton.
Roy Barry to be named Deputy Director of Social Security Board
Roy Barry, an indigenous Virgin Islander who hails from Sea Cows Bay, will be promoted to the post of Deputy Director of the BVI Social Security Board (SSB). Mr. Barry according to this news site's reliable sources is expected to head up the National Insurance Scheme Division.
In keeping with the SSB Act Cap 266, Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Ronnie W. Skelton will move the motion at Monday’s sitting to cement that decision that has already been recommended by the Social Security Board of Directors.
The appointment will be effective from 3 September, 2012.
Meanwhile, the Premier according to the order paper will introduce for the first reading two bills, one entitled Legal Profession Act 2012 and the Public Finance Management (Amendment) Act 2012 a bill demanded by the United Kingdom Government via the Protocol.
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41 Responses to “Update: VI’s Parliament opens today with 2nd speech from the throne in 9 months!”
If they would read the gazzett they would of known the house was prorogued. Those two need to go sit down. They are the ones who need to answer questions and the muck they made in the last government. If I were them, I would be very afraid.
I actually voted for them because they could talk a good talk deman, but after 10 months the facts now showing very different.
What he is a Taino indian? Or a Carib? All of you MISUSING the word 'indigenous' and creating a false concept with it. No one here is indigenous. Even the indians came from somewhere. Some of us are descended from slave days, some had slave ancestors given their master's names, some were free slaves liberated by the British from American slave ships and given land at Kingston, some came after that, some drifted in from Cuba, DR, St Kitts, Anguilla, the UK, Denmark, USA, Antigua etc etc over the centuries.
Who is an INDIGENOUS BVIslander? No one. Which, as the Bible says, makes no one more superior around here than any other mortal man or woman, all equal under God and Nature. Ayo need to stop this bullcr*p claim to superiority and special treatment. It's greedy, childish and disgusting. A small number of old time families want to hold on to all the power, money and priveleges even if it causes all kind of hardship to fellow human beings who get locked out from life's opportunities ... just because they not 'indigenous'. This is called xenophobia and it's what Hitler fed Germans on to make them think it was ok to gas Jews; it is what the KKK fed southern whites with, so they believed it was right to lynch black people. It is just a fast track to pure evil and all you groups stirring it up better watch what kind of fire you want to unleash on our community.
I'm glad you proud to be from here. All of we should be proud. I proud to be from here too and to have my roots here, too.
But I'm not proud of this stupidness among my people who don't want to know anything about reality, just want to claim and claim this and that all the time no matter how it affects other human beings. I am ashamed of my people who act like racists and xenophobes, and because they have roots here they think they are better than other people. I am ashamed of people who make threats against anyone who suggests BVIslanders are not superior. I am ashamed that your first reaction is to guess - wrong - that I am from outside just because I suggest we need to stop lying to ourselves, stop bigging ourselves up like we some kind of superior race, and start caring for others as much as we care for our own.
Last time I had a ticket for fast ferry they tell me I got to on Native Son because fast ferry broke down. Native Son working fine for be, buddy. You? You got some fixing to do.