‘VI was rebuilding without the RDA’ - Hon Smith
Speaking at the Sixth Sitting of the First Session of the Fourth House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands on September 2, 2019, Hon Smith in exercising frustration at the red tape surrounding the RDA, said long before the agency's existence in the territory, Virgin Islanders were leading their own rebuilding efforts.
Red tape and Rebuilding
“During the hurricane I watch us build back this country, it didn’t had no RDA... we build it back on our own backs and sweat, we did it,” the first time legislator told the House.
Following the devastation from Hurricanes Irma and Maria of 2017, the RDA was established under the Dr D. Orlando Smith National Democratic Party (NDP) government, as a tailor-made capability to support the administration in delivering the longer-term recovery and development of the Virgin Islands.
However, many political pundits and social commentators have since accused the agency of being an ‘alternative government’ created by the United Kingdom due to mistrust in the then NDP administration.
Created as a statutory body, it was set up under VI legislation to work hand-in-hand with ministries to deliver projects under the Recovery and Development Plan (RDP).
‘Tired begging’ – Hon Smith
“I tired begging for lights, I tired begging for this… all I hearing is RDA. We as a community, we also need to work together, we don’t need to wait on the RDA to fix a softball field, to fix a basketball court,” Hon Smith said in frustration, recounting efforts to fix local recreational facilities.
According to Mr Smith, since its establishment and counter to the purpose of the agency, it is now more difficult to get rebuilding tasks done, “Now the RDA in here, I have nothing against the RDA… but now they in here, you can’t get nothing done,” he said.
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23 Responses to “‘VI was rebuilding without the RDA’ - Hon Smith”
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