Govt's violation of Protocols was to build economy – Premier Smith
He was speaking on Thursday January 21, 2016 during a press conference held at the Central Administration Complex during which he dealt with a number of issues.
Premier Smith was asked what would be the arrangement given that the December 31, 2015 deadline was missed.
“Well obviously if we did not meet the December 31, 2015 deadline there will be a future date not long from now,” he said in response.
The Premier said the Government took the conscious decision to do the country’s infrastructure as a means to building its economy.
“The reality is that as a Government we recognise that in order to build the economy of this country we had to do certain things. We had to put the infrastructure in place…we had to build the roads, we had to build the pier park, we have to expand the airport,” he said.
The Opposition has oftentimes criticised the Government for what they call breaches of the Protocols and disregard for the agreement signed in 2012 and which restricts how much the Government is able to spend without the go ahead of the UK.
“All these things take financing and therefore one had to make some decisions. Do you want to build the economy or do you just want to save money. So we had to make the decision to do the things we needed to do to build the economy and put off for a little while the time when we wanted to meet a deadline as far as savings are concerned,” Premier Smith said.
It is not clear where exactly monies were spent to "build the economy" as the usual cry from Government, according to many, is that it is broke.
The Premier on a recorded television interview in early 2015 made the statement that at the end of 2014 the Government had the sum of $90 million in the bank. On another occasion, Premier Smith, speaking at the Band Stand in Road Town on May 26, 2015 while addressing an NDP rally, said, “At the end of three-and-a-half years, we are happy to say that the economy did grow. When we came into office, we met a total of $51.5 million in the bank. Last year, up to the 31st of December 2014, we had $90.4 million.”
However, a few short months later the Premier said that he could not recall making such a claim.
“I don’t recall speaking about $90 million. I have to refresh my memory before I could make any comment on that,” Premier Smith said when approached on the issue in October 2015.
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21 Responses to “Govt's violation of Protocols was to build economy – Premier Smith”
We are in trouble because the rules are not being followed for sound business plan. It is business as usual him thinking he knows better when it hasn't been working. Follow the rules for a stronger sustainable base to work on.
geesh.. he still thinks he knows better and he is jeopardizing BVI again.
Keep playing the fool.
Starring : Mark Vanterpool