Finally! VI to get its Consumer Protection Bill
Broken NDP Promises
Promised first by the National Democratic Party (NDP) which took power in 2011, the Consumer Bill never materialised, however, Junior Minister of Trade and Consumer Affairs, Mr Penn was said to have had a public disagreement with Attorney General, Baba F. Aziz over the piece of legislation.
According to Hon Fahie, the Legislation proposed by Hon Penn would have never made it into the HoA under the NDP, “They didn’t believe in it because the member of the district [Hon Penn] didn’t have anything to conflict with it coming forward,” he said.
“But those who had [conflict] are gone and the people of the Virgin Islands will get the consumer protection coming forward,” the Premier assured.
Cabinet Passed
“We have already passed it in Cabinet, it is to come on the agenda of the House of Assemble and [we are] going to get this consumer protection passed,” Hon Fahie affirmed.
“If you want us [to] name it the Fahie Administration and Marlon Penn Consumer Protection Bill we’ll name it that,” the Premier said.
However, he implored that finally, the People of the Virgin Islands will get what they deserve, which is, regulatory jurisdictions that provide consumer protection through laws designed to ensure the rights of consumers as well as fair trade, competition and accurate information in the marketplace in propagated.
Trade Licences
Further, the Premier revealed that new Trade Licenses are also on the way with improved categories to serve the people of the territory.
The premier said that the licences would come in three categories, one for native people of the Virgin Islands, one for people who collaborate with Virgin Islanders in business and a third category for Non-Belongers.
“We understand with Economic Substance coming and other things, that we have to change how we doing [Business], but we also understand that we have to protect our people in certain industries,” the Premier said.
He thanked Hon Penn for the hard work on crafting the Consumer Protection Bill and for having a 'pure heart' with putting the people first, which according to him is the reason why the District Eight representative returned to the HoA.
16 Responses to “Finally! VI to get its Consumer Protection Bill ”
This universe is filled with all manner of sanctions and embargoes as protective measures within the international or global trading markets
Good to go.
We will soon be able to shop without worrying so much about those ridiculous prices.