NDP’s At Large reps will be in forefront – Hon. Walwyn pledges
“The thinking that a district has one representative is what contributes to the division of the Territory. It has to stop, every single At Large member is responsible for every district...there is nothing wrong with the system,” declared Minister for Education and Culture and At Large representative, Myron Walwyn, at the December 21, 2011 sitting of the House of Assembly (HOA).
“Every district has five representatives,” Hon. Walwyn added.
According to him, his first $500,000 will be divided by nine. “Every mouth must be fed in this Virgin Islands (VI). That is my position, the position of my leader and this new VI Government.”
Premier Dr. D Orlando Smith; Minister for Health and Social Development Hon. Ronnie Skelton and Hon. Archibald “Archie” Christian are the other At Large Representatives.
Interestingly, Hon. Walwyn’s statement on how the At Large Representatives will be integrated into the district system is in contrast to how the previous administration’s At Large Representatives felt.
Two of the most vocal ones, Keith Flax and Vernon Malone, had lamented that they were disenfranchised in executing their duties and that their roles were not constituently defined.
During a HOA sitting on December 23, 2010, Malone recommended that the At Large reps responsibilities be incorporated into the district representation system.
“At the moment, that is wreaking havoc on the [political] system and the At Large members have become useless. I call myself the sixth finger,” Hon. Malone had told members of the House of Assembly.
Meanwhile, Hon. Flax, at the same sitting had bluntly stated that the At Large Representatives’ role is a “position that should not be taken lightly, and must not be taken for granted. We have to represent the people like the District Representatives.”
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