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VI Gov’t picks apart lame excuse by CoI for 3-month extension
CoI plays the blame game
The CoI has attempted to lay the blame for their failure to meet two deadlines to submit a final report on the Inquiry squarely on the feet of the Government of the Virgin Islands.
The CoI, via Secretary to the Commission Steven Chandler, claimed that documents produced to the Commission and which the Commissioner may wish to consider for publication “have been produced often in very poor order.”
Further, the Commission accused elected Ministers, including Members of Cabinet, of not taken timely advantage of opportunities to make applications to the Commissioner that documents (or parts of documents) which have been sent to the CoI should not be disclosed to the public.
“Had such applications been made in a timely way, the Commissioner could and would have been able to have published the documents already, which would have helped the BVI public to understand the issues as they arose,” the CoI stated.
VI Gov’t hits back
The Government of the Virgin Islands has; however, hit back at the CoI by suggesting that the CoI is not being truthful and transparent in their reasons for the further three-month delay to the CoI’s report.
In a press statement this evening, January 5, 2022, the Government of the Virgin Islands said it is “puzzling” that the main reason cited by the Commission for delaying submission of the report to the Governor is the need to decide which parts of sensitive documents should be redacted (withheld from publication).
“All documents provided by the Government to the Commission are accessible by the Governor in unredacted form and could be supplied by the Commission to the Governor immediately and without change.”
The press statement also stated that it is understandable that the Commissioner wishes to prepare a report in publishable form, but “it is also surprising” that the Commission should complain about delays in Ministerial indications about which parts of thousands of pages of documents should be withheld for good reasons such as national security.
“The Commissioner himself said on 22 October 2021 that, recognising the scale of the task, he would let Ministers know which documents, in particular, he would quote or rely on in his report.
“Despite requests from the Attorney General on 25 November 2021 and 2 December 2021, as well as on 30 December 2021, this has yet to be done.”
CoI delays may continue to harm reputation of VI
According to the statement from Government, the Ministers “are anxious to enable as full and fast publication of relevant documents as possible and expect, as they have already promised, to be able to obtain Cabinet consent for any redactions which are needed within 10 days of being informed by the CoI which documents they should be looking at.
“Therefore, if this is really the only issue causing this delay, then notification by the Commissioner about those documents on 4th January 2022 would still enable the Report to be published by the previous 19 January 2022 deadline,” the statement indicated.
The Government of the Virgin Islands said it continues to seek to co-operate with the CoI in every way possible.
“It is regrettable that this further delay in the process, which already consumed very considerable amounts of Government time and resources in 2021, means that there will be further calls on these well into 2022 – and further unnecessary harm may continue to be done in the meantime to the reputation of these Islands.”
Suspicious CoI
While there is no question that all Virgin Islanders support good governance, many suspect that the CoI, which alleges unsubstantiated reports of corruption and victimisation, is an old tactic of the colonial powers to hamper the VI's progress towards self-determination and for the UK to gain control of the territory.
The CoI has been unable to unearth any major corruption or even victimisation in its hearings, apart from exposing the need for strengthening of policies for accountability and transparency. This continues to be worked on by the incumbent government that has been adamant in bringing forward a suite of good governance legislation.
The CoI was called by an ex-governor who was known to be at loggerheads with Premier and Minister of Finance Hon Andrew A. Fahie (R1), who has been determined to prepare the people of the VI to manage its own affairs for the inevitable position of self-determination.
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21 Responses to “VI Gov’t picks apart lame excuse by CoI for 3-month extension”
these people from the CoI are not only ev** they are rac**t so happy the Government set the record straight
This does not fit the narrative of the report that Gus needs to save his career, not does it help the Commissioner find his next tax payer funded junket.
What do do? - ask for another 3 months to try and find a way to be more critical of the Government and save their own career prospects. Blame the BVI Govt for not responding to requests, but don't mention that you have not made those requests yet.
Honourable Ministers, did you comply properly when questioned by the CoI in reference to the of mismanagement of our finances?
Could it be that your neglected to fully cooperate is a factor in the need for the requested, and granted extension?
The Bible says, "Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he reap. That means, all who sow prickly pear seeds, will reap pears with many prickly spikes.
He that is innocent of guilt neither fears nor worry. This saying is true 2022.
Seriously a few late submissions is the biggest scandal they uncovered. OMG politicians missed their deadlines Oh my, oh wait isn’t that exactly what the governor who called the COI did himself? missed the dead line to submit his report on the airline.
You all wimpy suck up politicians should have scolded his donkey when you had the chance Fraser stood up to move that motion to reprimand the governor and y’all shot him down with no votes.
If you all could turn back the clock every man & woman would vote to reprimand that immature governor.
Now you see how they press us (oppress downpress) after you handled them with gloves. stop playing yes man for the UK it’s getting us and you politicians no where.
They were f-in slavers. Now they’re unrepentant ex-slavers. I wish they weren’t.
Furthermore y’all realize how silly it was to be running to the governor playing snitch telling tales. Now your eyes are open to reality.
If someone can help me understand what National Security in the BVI is I would appreciate the info.