‘NDP failed to deliver after 3 long years’ – Hon Julian Fraser RA
Honourable Fraser was at the time speaking exclusively to this news site during an interview on December 28, 2014.
“… clearly it was under this administration that the international community has lost confidence in the Territory as evidenced by the fact that France has seen fit to blacklist us as a financial centre, and further, the G20 along with the United States and leading European countries such as France are demanding that we establish a public record of shareholders (beneficial ownership) of companies registered in the Territory, which is a clear indication of lack of trust,” he said.
He said that while the Territory is still the domicile of some 450,000 business companies, and still holds the number one position, it does represent a slip in growth over the years during this administration from what was once - over 500,000.
Honourable Fraser noted that crime in the Territory continues to be of concern, “for as recently as a few weeks ago a young man was gunned down in the middle of the street in the heart of Road Town in broad daylight.”
“Our economy continues to slip, even in the face of the government claiming otherwise. What is true is that companies such as Columbian Emeralds have closed, companies such as Long Bay Hotel have downsized, and persons have been laid off, and returning to their homelands during the three years of this administration,” he said.
“Additionally, as a consequence of a failed economy, banks are foreclosing on mortgages, automobiles are being repossessed, and apartments are going vacant,” said Honourable Fraser.
He said that the Territory is yet to see any meaningful attempt to fix the failing infrastructure of the Virgin Islands under this administration, from roads, to water, to electricity.
“And while the schools system is being destroyed through deviancy, our education Minister tells us that because of budgetary constraints he won't be building a Junior High School. This government which built a 120 million dollar hospital that it is now begging you and I for money to furnish, must be prevented from using the National Health Insurance money (your money) to fund the hospital's operation. That is wrong, and they must know that,” Honourable Fraser declared.
“This administration shortly after taking office, April 23 2012 to be exact, entered into a Protocol for Effective Financial Management with the United Kingdom and promised that they will be in compliance with the borrowing guidelines as to liquid assets by December 2015,” he said. “But by December 2014 they have already informed the United Kingdom Government that they are unable to comply. In other words they will be in default. These are the types of actions that cause the erosion of trust and confidence,” he said.
“It was during this administration that American Eagle discontinued service to the Territory, that we were blacklisted by Europe’s number two economy, that our economy has and continues to contract, and recently America instituted the 12 pack rule, all these things impacting negatively on our economy, and I'm afraid that I am not convinced, at least not by the evidence put forward, that this Government is capable of fixing things,” Honourable Fraser said.
Several attempts to get a response to Honourable Fraser’s allegations from Premier Dr the Honourable D. Orlando Smith proved futile over the weekend and up to this morning.
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48 Responses to “‘NDP failed to deliver after 3 long years’ – Hon Julian Fraser RA”
http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/hon-fraser-proposes-maritime-academy-new-jr-high-school
http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/vip-chairman-fraser-pays-tribute-to-vi-political-stalwarts
http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/under-ndp-youths-are-in-hopeless-despair-hon-fraser
http://www.virginislandsnewsonline.com/en/news/ndp-lied-deceived-taxpayers-saying-vip-left-country-broke-hon-fraser
Now here is more NDP failures for you.
1) Desasterous pullout of American Eagle which on its best days flew upwards of 12 flights a day with as many as 768 passengers, has done irreparable damage to our economy; 2) TMF's acquisition of Commonwealth and Equity Trust has resulted in the layoff of 15 employees; 3) the closure of Columbian Emeralds, and A. H. Riise: 4) two major multinational jewelers no tourism destination like ours could afford to lose; 5) Long Bay Hotel has been reduced from an all year 100 unit hotel to a 42 unit seasonal hotel; 6) LIME’s layoff of some top executives and is now about to layoff 30 technicians; 7) First Bank served notice of employee cutbacks; 8) First Caribbean Bank served notice of Staff reduction; 9) Pussers closed a popular restaurant with several employees; 10) CCT’s layoff of 16 employees; 11) Moorings’ layoff of 16 employees including top managers; 12) all these things happening with no government intervention.
- New State of the Art Tech School built and lauded by international persons.
- New State of the Art Hospital opened and offering services
- New Crafts Alive Village completed, removing the unsightly tent city from Road Town
- New Cruise Pier facility well underway, putting us in a better position to develop our cruise tourism
- New Airport Expansion in the works to ensure that we control our destiny when it comes to Airlift
- New VG Clinic being put out to tender in a few weeks. After 30 years of promises this is the closest the people of VG have come to having a proper clinic especially since they contribute so much to our Tourism product.
- New revamped system in Education to cater to all kids, not just the 'bright' ones.
- New plans for ESHS Jr. and Snr High School to better manage the kids
All this while building our reserves from $7mil to almost $50mil, without laying off one single civil servant, without cutting salaries, all while rebuilding the Government systems so that departments can better communicate and quality of information, statistics etc. better. Unlike the last VIP, the UK Government are in full support of NDP initiatives and approved all lending, financing proposals put forward. NDP have fumbled a few things, but to say they haven't done anything in 3 years is rubbish. They did in their first year more than VIP did in their last 4 and that is a fact. All VIP did was dig up all over the place and couldn't finish one project.
- Built a brand new Technical School so that our youth can take up their rightful place in these industries.
- Developed a Youth Unemployment Service for our young people to register, receive training and matched with employers
- Built an entirely new library at ESHS because it was run down when they got in.
- Created the Small Business Bureau in 2003. When VIP got in 2007 they abandoned it. NDP revamped it again in 2011 and since then many locals who couldn't get financing through the banks have gotten assistance to start their business. Not only monies, but advice and ongoing assistance.
- Total overhaul of our Education system from kindergarten through High School.
- Introduction of culture, flag raising and overall patriotism in our schools.
- Completion of Peebles Hospital
- Building of a first-class cruise pier
- Building of a beautiful Crafts Alive center, finally ridding us of the unsightly tent city
- Clean up of wickhams cay which had become a dump heap for old cars, boats, pipes etc.
- Addressing the sewage issues in East End Long Look once and for all with a temporary treatment plant while works are ongoing on the permanent solutions.
- Accessed CDB monies which VIP could not access because they had our finances in shambles, now works are moving forward.
- Purchase of proper road equipment so that the Government would not be held hostage by greedy contractors and can address the road issues once and for all.
- Emerging fellow awards for youth to assist them financially to go abroad to expand on their interests.
- Special Needs children finally granted a line item in the budget for the first time, with programs and opportunities in place for those families.
- BVIEC about to embark on phase 5 to build capacity for power generation
- Focus on Teacher training to ensure that our kids get the best when it comes to learning
- Focus on Principal Training by offering principals the opportunity to travel overseas and get on-site training so that our schools can be properly run.
- Introduction of Teacher Licensing which will ensure that all teachers are held to the highest standards and are equipped with the necessary tools across the board.
- NHI so that persons who lose their jobs, have preconditions or are too old to access private insurance, they can be covered locally and globally if necessary.
- Road Town Sewage project well underway to finally address the long standing issues that we have been faced with.
- $40+ million on our reserves after only 3 years after meeting only $7 mil which puts us on our way to be able to borrow and control our own finances once again. Read the recent Cayman Islands news about their issues and you will see how important this is for us!
- Not having to lay off one single civil servant, cut pay or freeze hiring. The Government has managed to save more, keep employees, implement new systems within Government.
- New equipment at our Fisheries Complex to enable better storage and faster payments to our fishermen.
- Elected officials constantly on social media interacting with the people for the first time ever in our politics.
- VG new Basketball stadium and park for families
- Refurbishing of other recreational facilities Territory-wide including Belle Vue Gym and Green Land field which VIP dug up and couldn't afford to even start.
- FIFA partnership to build proper sporting facility on Tortola.
- HEMA partnership with HSA to enable our people to access specialist care without travelling overseas
- Introduction of mandatory CXC at Secondary Level with Government paying all fees which is value for money and finally enables us to measure our success compared to our peers in the Region.
Yes, the baggage Fahie & Fraser carrying around are light because they keeping them empty to stuff your worthless ass NDP in come next election to drag them out of office
It is obvious you haven't read the post. 2015 is a New Year and fools like you should educate yourself by reading the posts and responding inteligently, instead of going directly to blog s*ht