'Abstinence is for sexual activity'- Skelton-Cline to Backbenchers
The National Democratic Party (NDP) Government was seeking to borrow some sixty five million, two hundred and ninety one thousand dollars ($65,291,000), according to them "for the purpose of rehabilitation and assisting the Territory in recovering from the impact of Hurricane Irma while reducing risks associated with high winds and flood hazards and to support the population in re-establishing sustainable livelihood."
However, the Government failed to get the support of all of its members after the Motion was taken to a vote during the continuation of the Twelfth Sitting of the Second Session of the Third HoA on December 20, 2017.
The two Opposition Members, Hon Andrew A. Fahie (R1) and Julian Fraser RA (R3) and NDP Backbencher Hon Deloris Christopher (R5) voted against the motion, which went in favour of the NDP Government 6-3, with 2 NDP Backbenchers Hons Penn and Maduro-Caines abstaining and 2 absent.
Either yay or nay
While for some the two Backbenchers abstaining can be considered as a vote against the motion, Mr Skelton-Cline is having none of it.
“I want to say to some of our elected officials. When we elect you to government we elect you to go and sit and to make decisions on our behalf, on behalf of the people who elected you to be there. And when time comes for your vote, your vote needs to be either yay or nay,” Mr Skelton-Cline stated on his show Honestly Speaking, aired on ZBVI 780 AM on January 2, 2017.
According to the former Managing Director of the BVI Ports Authority (BVIPA), legislators do not have the luxury of abstaining.
“Abstinence is for sexual activity. That’s when you abstain from stuff, if you not married or something like that, but you should not be sitting in the House, and I am speaking now to my young friends who abstained, you can’t be abstaining. Let your yay be yay and your nay be nay.”
Mr Skelton-Cline reasoned that the Members need to make their position on any matter clear. “History needs to show that you took a stand that was definitive. Even Jesus said in the New Testament scriptures, you either hot or cold. You can’t be lukewarm, that is the kind of stuff that we have to spew out of our mouths. Lukewarm does not work.”
Was the loan a done deal even before HoA approval vote?
Meanwhile, the talk show host said it was concerning to him that the CDB had already disclosed publicly, some two weeks before the HoA loan vote, that it had approved the $65M loan for the Virgin Islands.
“We know that the House got approval but almost two weeks prior, the CDB issued a press release where it stated that it had already approved” the loan/grants to the VI Government.
Mr Skelton-Cline said he found it interesting that the CDB would announce that it had approved the loan when the HoA had not yet given approval.
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21 Responses to “'Abstinence is for sexual activity'- Skelton-Cline to Backbenchers”
The loan is approved by lender
Lender notifies you that loan is approved and OFFERS their terms
You can either ACCEPT or REJECT the loan.
Bringing the loan for approval to the HoA was simply the last step. If CDB made an announcement before the last step, well to use another 'sexual' term, it was 'premature' proclamation.