Minister for Communications and Works Hon. Mark Vanterpool said the monies of the Social Security Board belongs to pensioners. Photo: VINO/ File

He noted that his Government has to be fiscally responsible for all monies and not spend “willy nilly”.

“We are not going to borrow it as we wish; we must borrow within certain guidelines. We must be able to ensure that we are not overburdened with borrowing and can’t pay back the pensioners money one day,” he said.

He continued, “If we don’t have any money to spend, we don’t have any money to spend, so we are not taking on any obligations if we don’t have any money. If we didn’t get the money yet or we are going to borrow the money, we will wait until we get the money to borrow and then spend it, but we must have fiscal discipline,” Hon. Vanterpool added.

On July 3, 2012, 3rd District Representative Hon. Julian Fraser, RA said he found it scary that the Virgin Islands Government was able to negotiate with the United Kingdom to be in breach of the borrowing guidelines until the end of 2015.

In giving a comprehensive presentation on the motion, which was signed on April 23, 2012 between Premier Dr. D. Orlando Smith and MP Henry Bellingham, the district representative revealed that the move could be detrimental to the VI fiscal management.

“...because it’s so reminiscent of what I see what is happening in the Cayman, it’s the same document so to speak. Why four years to become compliance. Do we have any intention of becoming fiscally responsible as a Government or are we just going to continue doing this stuff?” Hon. Fraser had asked.