Edmund G. Maduro 'needs to read the Constitution!' – Gov John S. Duncan
In an exclusive interview with this news site yesterday September 30, 2015, Governor Duncan said that, according to the Constitution, the Governor of the territory has no role in public health or social security.
This is in the wake of recent criticisms by Edmund G. Maduro who had taken to the airwaves last Thursday evening September 24, 2015 to criticise Governor Duncan for his silence on the NHI.
“It’s just as Mr Alred C. Frett has asked. Is he (the Governor) trying to get us back into colonialism or is he trying to improve on the system of government that we have?” questioned Mr Maduro, a loud critic of Governor Duncan.
Mr Maduro then mounted a call for a constitutional change that would allow persons to challenge the Governor of the Virgin Islands in a court of law.
“There is provision in the constitution where the Governor cannot be taken to court for anything he does wrong and that is abusive. That needs to be removed from our constitution.”
Mr Maduro was at the time addressing issues as it relates to NHI, something he says is a good initiative but needs to be approached differently. He is of the view that a person’s constitutional right to life and freedom to choose a health care facility or doctor is being violated by the proposed NHI in its current state.
“The Governor is a man like everybody else, he is a man like the 13 Representatives and whenever he does something wrong he must be punished for it because he knows better than what he is doing now,” alleged Mr Maduro on his talk show. He believes that the Governor’s failure to act on the reported displeasure of NHI by many persons is a dereliction of duty.
Not so says Governor
However, Governor Duncan begged to differ on the issue saying that NHI has nothing to do with his office and that health care is the responsibility of the elected Government.
“Mr Maduro must read the Constitution. NHI and the issue of public health and social development are devolve powers to the local Government. They are not a matter for the Governor. So it is not appropriate that the Governor should intervene in this matter,” said Governor Duncan.
23 Responses to “Edmund G. Maduro 'needs to read the Constitution!' – Gov John S. Duncan”
we now live in an intellectual age and some of us need to stop making most of us in this territory look bad/stupid; getting emotional over issues and taking trash is not the way forward...all I am saying a number of these talk show guys should put their brain in gear before putting their mouth in motion.... here we are in 2015 and the white guy as to remind us what to do( we live in the internet age so when in doubt simply Google)...maduro/wheatley and those 60's guys need to give it a rest because they are certainly not part of the solution but simply being a problem.as I said being emotionally about any matter or matters then talk bull before getting facts of the matter simply make our country looks bad.
"“...the Governor’s failure to act on the reported displeasure of NHI by many persons is a dereliction of duty."
EGM did not say that the Governor of the territory has a role in public health or social security. He said the Governor is failing to act on behalf of the disgruntled people on the matter of NHI. The people, the people, the people.
Give me a damn break! The petition against NHI got a whopping 600 signatures? Is it even that much? 600 out of about 15-20K people? What should the Governor do with that? Wipe his @$$? Do the people that sign the petition have an alternative to NHI? NO! Stop trying to justify nonsense. EGM and others are sad chaps and use national issues as an excuse to vent and spew venom on the airwaves. They need to be shut down and sent home to relax their backsides. The sad thing is that many of them talking the loudest have worked in our civil service in senior positions and had the chance to fix many of the very things they are crying about now. The irony is that they collected salary, now collecting pension and still crying foul. Pull their files and see that they have no businesses on our TV or radios saying anything. Sick of all of them now, not a positive note out of their face holes.
Underestimate that 600 at your own peril. I salute them as they are brave enough to sign.
This is not true or is a misinterpretation of the constitution. Bob Hodge did take the governor to court and won. Today he is a free man. Reading and understanding are two different things Mr Maduro.