Hon Fahie makes case for COI into cruise pier project
Throughout his wrap up on the debate on the Public Accounts Committee final report on the cruise pier project during the Eighth Sitting of the Third Session of the Second House of Assembly yesterday August 11, 2014, Hon Fahie kept saying after making a point that “only a Commission of Inquiry could clear these things up.”
“The project will continue…no Commission of Inquiry is going to stop the project. But if what we are saying is not so, then a Commission of Inquiry will prove it. If what the Government is saying is so, the Commission of Inquiry will prove it,” he argued.
“But all of the factors being named here cannot be ignored,” he said. “There are too many of them,” he said.
He said that the PAC sat and went through the Minutes of the report thoroughly. “And Madame Speaker you gon tell me this was rushed?” he asked, referring to the statements that the report was done hurriedly because of some nefarious agenda on the part of the PAC.
“I take strong offence to anybody who make it sound like this report was a rush job. Madam Speaker all we are saying to the Government… is that there are some areas of the project [that must be looked at],” he said.
“Madam Speaker failure to have the Commission of Inquiry done is saying to the public that the Auditor General is not effectual even though the evidence supports her; Madam Speaker failure to have the Commission of Inquiry done, this Government will be saying to the public that all the public servants, board members of the BVI Ports Authority are all not being factual,” he said.
At this point Hon Myron V. Walwyn Minister for Education and Culture stood on a point of order to state that only the Governor is empowered to call a Commission of Inquiry and not the Government, and that Hon Fahie should not give the impression that the Government does not want to call a COI.
He said that questions such as how did Tortola Port Partners (TPP) form, when did TPP form and why did TPP form and how did a company that didn’t exist, created to get a multimillion dollar contract from the Virgin Islands Government where the project was never tendered out.
“Madam Speaker only a Commission of Inquiry can clear up these issues,” he said. Hon Fahie also stated that a COI will get to the bottom of how no one in Government knew that TPP partner entities were flat broke even though due diligence was done on them.
Hon Fahie stated too that persons involved in the project from overseas called him and found him and they told him of their concerns of the project and they needed to clear their name and the name of their companies. “I would want to say Madam Speaker that if [what was disclosed to me about what has transpired with this project has an iota of truth], then there is serious cause for concern,” he said.
“Madam Speaker only a Commission of Inquiry is going to clear [these issues up] and it needs to be done in the best interest of the country,” he said.
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17 Responses to “Hon Fahie makes case for COI into cruise pier project”
BiWater Notifies Gov't Of Plans To Bump Up Price Of Water. On BVI Platinum. Water we not even receiving. Third World situation.
Tell them to come with some solid incriminating facts against Biwater. The government has not spent a cent on this company. Even with the so called hikes that Vanterpool is alleging, the water will still be cheaper than Ocean Conversion. Tired of NDP self gratifying rumors. Not my vote again.
How can Biwater be cheaper than Ocean Conversion when we are paying for their Electricity over the life of the contract, no matter how high it goes? Man come on! Ocean Conversion's rate includes electricity and it's a fixed rate. Biwater's rate does not include electricity but also includes an inflation clause where it can increase over the life. Ocean conversion's price per 1000 gallons is around $17.00 which includes $6.00 and change for Electricity. Biwater is $12.80 and if you add the same $6. what do you get? Then factor in the inflation clauses. Ocean Conversion didn't fail at anything. It was always Government's responsibility to build the infrastructure to get water to consumers. Watch as Biwater comes on stream most people still won't get water. Fraser fed you all a big l.. about water quality and you all bought it like idiots because you don't like your own.