Britain can’t be trusted- Doug Wheatley
Host of Speak Out BVI on ZBVI 780 AM, Doug Wheatley on Tuesday November 1, 2016 said there were several instances such as the Tortola Pier Park project and undemocratic practices that were brought to the attention of the Governor, and he did not lift a finger to help.
“Over the last week or so we have been hearing that the Governor has become a little more involved and active in the affairs of the Virgin Islands. I think he is late in doing that but better late than never,” he said.
“We have been calling on the Governor to be a lot more assertive in ensuring that good Governance is upheld and also the tenants of democracy. But he has perhaps, refuted is too strong a term, but he has certainly not gone along with the idea that we had when we said to him that there are undemocratic practices being practiced and all the talk of the British Government and good governance and the importance of good governance we have noticed that our government has been allowed to get away with a lot of practices which don’t amount to good governance.”
Britain never forgets, have no permanent friends
Wheatley urged Virgin Islanders to remember that the British have no permanent friends, only permanent selfish interests, and a very long memory.
“One of the things about Britain we have to appreciate and understand is that Britain has no permanent friends, only permanent interests. And in a nutshell what that means is Britain can appear to be a friend of yours as long as her interests are being served, and if tomorrow her interests are not being served she will cut stakes and divorce herself from you because she has no permanent friends. And also Britain has a long memory, so we have to be very careful when dealing with such a country because we may tend to forget some of their happenings, but they don’t forget, they remember and they will remind us one way or the other in due course of what we have said or what we have done,” he pointed out.
Governor speaks from both sides of his mouth
According to our information, one of the many letters penned to the Premier, dated February 11, 2016 and copied to the Deputy Governor and the Financial Secretary, by His Excellency the Governor John S. Duncan, warned the Government of Dr. Smith about the blatant violation of the VI Constitution over formal audits of the Government Accounts.
The governor in his letter also mentioned that an audit was done by Price Waterhouse Coopers and it had “revealed serious flaws in the Government’s accounts.”
He cautioned the NDP administration that after almost two years, that this situation needs to be “rectified as soon as possible,” the FCO “cannot be certain as to the extent of their own contingent liability.”
The Opposition has been calling for the audited accounts for years going back to 2012, however, the governor has been silent in Public on the matter, something the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Opposition regard as the lack of good governance. In response, Governor Duncan said he is not “an internal police.”
The VIP has also brought out evidence of mismanagement of funds. In public, the Governor is saying he is satisfied with how the NDP regime is managing the public purse but in letters and communique to the FCO he is saying another.
In the same letter, Governor Duncan is agreeing that there is Government mismanagement of funds including a request to provide $96,000 for catering at a training course for public servants which he described as “particularly egregious.” However, the letter did not provide for which Ministry or Department made the request or who offered the catering services.
Governor Duncan has asked Dr Smith and the Cabinet to “lead a concerted and structured effort to reduce wasteful expenditure.”
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17 Responses to “Britain can’t be trusted- Doug Wheatley”
I don't think any of the politicians who have been in power or in opposition in the last decade or more can be trusted.
Look at all the corruption, look at all the backhanders and look at all the nice pensions that the politicians and their friends have put away.
Unless someone (Britain?) takes control and stops the incessant pocket-lining, the BVI will run out of money. Plain and simple. Then the pensions are either not going to be paid or will be paid at the expense of the young at the time.