“Nothing in life is free” – Fahie hits back at Walwyn
“The cream doesn’t need to push anything down to the bottom in order for it to rise to the top”, he said.
“It takes its rightful position naturally…The Minister of Education will one day learn this lesson,” Hon Fahie said in response to the controversial Minister for Education and Culture Honourable Myron V. Walwyn.
National Democratic Party (NDP) Chairman and Minister for Education, Honourable Myron V. Walwyn recently accused the then Minister for Education and Culture, Hon Fahie, of spending $600,000 in pursuit of a medical school that was never constructed and had called on the Opposition Leader to account for the funds.
USAT
Under the leadership of Hon Walwyn, it was recently announced that the Medical School will finally become operable in 2019—without a penny of tax payers’ money being spent.
“We were able to get the University of Science, Arts and Technology (USAT), along with other institutions to apply for licenses to operate medical schools in our territory and we will get more...And we did all of this without one penny of the public’s money being spent,” Hon Walwyn announced recently.
As such, he questioned, “how is it that Hon Fahie would have spent $600,000 on one report and absolutely no results…That has to be explained…I am calling upon Hon Fahie with his new found love for transparency and accountability to tell the people what happened with that $600,000 that he spent on that medical study. It is outrageous, and it cannot go simply like this.”
Nothing Free
Hon Fahie today, September 6, 2018, in a public statement, contends however, that Hon Walwyn, “…is at it again, employing distraction tactics in the middle of launching the licensing of a medical school in the Territory.”
Hon Fahie blasted the Education Minister’s claim of having done the entire initiative for free, calling it suspect because, “truth be told, nothing in life is for free.”
Seeking to set the record straight, Hon Fahie said that during his tenure as Minister of Education, the medical school consultancy was commissioned, as dictated by common sense.
Every VI citizen, he said “inspires for a dream home…A dream home cannot and must not be constructed without detailed plans.” Those plans according to the Opposition Leader, is what will set the direction for proper construction of the home.
“Without them you must falter and so will the medical school initiative if a master plan had not been developed.”
He said the pursuit of the Medical Schoo,l under his tenure, included competitive bidding and the submittals were received and reviewed.
The consultancy contract was awarded in the amount of just over $500,000 following established financial procedures followed by the government technocrats and Cabinet, he said.
Known All Along
According to the Opposition Leader, as directed by Cabinet, interim reports were brought to Cabinet for review.
He disclosed however, as a result of the outcome the elections of 2011, the Ministry would have been charged with charting the way forward with the matter.
“The payment history is lodged at the ministry…The preliminary and other reports are lodged at the Ministry and at Cabinet… The Permanent Secretary and other public officials are fully aware of the details of this consultancy,” Fahie insists.
He was adamant, “Minister (Walwyn) is in possession of all the details and it is quite curious that eight years later that this topic will now be raised ahead of the Elmore Stoutt High School $1.6 million wall; ahead of a $7.2 million-dollar plane that will never fly; ahead of the $8 million for the East End/Long Look sewerage project funds that were illegally transferred to the Cruise Pier Park Project; ahead of the over spending of $40 million dollars on the Cruise Pier Park Project.”
In 2010, during the rule of the government by the Virgin Islands Party (VIP), Hon Fahie who was the Education Minister had announced that Government had signed a contract for $551,922.00 with Effect Incorporated.
The company which was out of Virginia, United States of America, was to determine the feasibiliyt of establishing a Medical School in the Territory.
18 Responses to ““Nothing in life is free” – Fahie hits back at Walwyn”
Thumbs down if you want Myron walwyn be the next premier.