Dickson Igwe. Photo: Provided

China recently got tough on corruption, even to the extent of executing corrupt officials. Corruption in Nigeria has kept two thirds of the population of over 170 million in poverty, despite a trillion dollar oil windfall. Worldwide, corruption is increasingly being viewed as a source of underdevelopment.

This Old Boy believes the Virgin Islands Voter, and Political Party Member, through the candidate selection process, to final vote count, has unique power to address the matter of corruption and conflict of interest. This can be done by Joe Voter demanding transparent, accountable, and equitable governance; and seeking out leaders who reflect those virtues.

In a tiny community, it is nearly impossible to combat corruption effectively through regular establishment channels and processes. Why: because elements within the social establishment itself are the source, continuation, and end of corruption: "the proverbial rat guarding the cheese."

Even in exponentially larger societies, corruption is a difficult beast to subdue. Corruption within the establishment is a very powerful dragon. It can only be defeated through a change in the national value system.

Defeating corruption starts with a value system that prizes honesty and integrity. The voter and resident in the Virgin Islands hold the value system in their heart. A country’s values are intangible. Values are an invisible but powerful feature of any society. Values define society.

Defeating corruption begins with the individual citizen. Interestingly, one of the main institutions for bringing the corruption matter to the forefront worldwide has been the media.

OK. One excellent example of unethical behavior in the British Virgin Islands is the renting of commercial buildings to government, for offices and various public utilities. This has become a great revenue generator for a wealthy few. It is also a part of a culture of "collaboration," between certain politicians, and their close friends.

Some of these buildings may lie empty for months. However extortionate rents continue to be paid by Jack Taxpayer out of public revenue even when buildings are unoccupied. Then government frequently has to pay for fixtures, fittings, and furnishings, in order to get these buildings into habitable condition, all the while paying these high rents.

Some of these buildings rent for as much as 100,000 USD a month: still they may have, not one single inhabitant for months. The rents continue to be paid however. One wonders whether this is economically justifiable

In fact, it was revealed to this Old boy by a source in the "proverbial know" that rents have even been paid in past years, in advance, to some of these landlords, even before some of these edifices to GLOBAL WARMING were constructed. The question is asked: would an audit have revealed this? And if an audit revealed that this was the case, was that not conflict of interest?  

For decades, the commercial buildings rentals business in the Virgin Islands, has been a no lose method through which a handful of "well connected" persons got their commercial buildings, essentially built and financed by government.

Furthermore, many of these buildings are poorly designed. They fail to meet the needs of a modern tropical environment. A small number of these buildings house national facilities that make similar facilities in very poor countries look like 5 star affairs. The architectural drawings for some of these buildings were probably copied from drawings better suited for buildings in cold climates.

As a result there is a problem. These buildings become infested with mould and various ailments. Many are extremely inefficient. Materials better suited for temperate climates are used in their construction. Roofs leak. Lifts fail to operate. Air conditioning frequently fails. Workers get seriously ill sitting in moldy and poor working conditions, "day in, and day out." The electricity bill for air conditioning could be 50% lower, had designers taken into consideration where these buildings were to sit: in a hot, tropical climate.

Furthermore, this concentration of commercial property for government use in a few private hands is a cause of underdevelopment. The cash used to pay these "high rents" could have been put into the national infrastructure instead. There is a clear OPPORTUNITY COST to the matter. Think of all the millions spent over the years in rents by government, and then add this up. That is the Opportunity cost.

Government could have probably built 2 administration complexes in 2 new economic zones, also known as business towns, east and west of Tortola, on the amount of rent it has paid to these few individuals over the years.

That loss of public revenue, used in renting these buildings, could have been used to decentralize Road Town instead, and move some of these government offices to the countryside, into special development zones, enhancing economic development, and job growth in the districts.

To be continued

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