Chairman of the Virgin Islands Party Hon Julian Fraser RA (R3) believes Premier Dr the Hon D. Orlando Smith had a hand in the outcome of Governor John S. Duncan OBE's decision not to appoint a Commission of Inquiry into the ports project. Photo: VINO/File

On the evening of March 17, 2015, Governor John S. Duncan OBE said that he saw no reason for a commission of Inquiry into the ports project, or any of the other projects flagged by the Auditor General. Photo: VINO/File

“I recognize the authority of the Governor and I respect his decision regarding the request for the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry into the Cruise Pier Project by the Public Accounts Committee,” said Hon Fraser. Photo: BVIPA

He was speaking last evening March 18, 2015 on the VIP’s radio show ‘Let’s Talk’ which was broadcast live on ZBVI 780 AM.

On the evening of March 17, 2015, Governor John S. Duncan OBE said that he saw no reason for a commission of Inquiry into the ports project, or any of the other projects flagged by the Auditor General.

“The People of the Virgin Islands have been misled into believing that with the signing of the Protocols For Effective Financial Management on April 23, 2012 that the National Democratic Party (NDP) Administration would uphold their side of the Agreement to become the guardians of Good Governance, Transparency, and Accountability, but what has been demonstrated thus far is the exact opposite. And most troubling in that regard is that the United Kingdom Government seems unwilling to call them out,” he said.

“I recognize the authority of the Governor and I respect his decision regarding the request for the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry into the Cruise Pier Project by the Public Accounts Committee,” said Hon Fraser.

Government manipulated events

“I also recognize the hand Government has played in effecting this outcome through the careful manipulation of events and the control of facts relevant to the study and the case,” Hon Fraser alleged.

He noted that the Auditor General’s Report on the Cruise Ship Pier Project which was requested by Governor William Boyd McCleary, predecessor to now Governor John S. Duncan, was kept undisclosed for years “despite repeated requests by the Opposition to both the Governor and the Premier, and was only made public by the Premier after the Public Accounts Committee had completed their Report and Tabled it in the House Of Assembly.”

“This behaviour by the Premier and the then Governor served as a cover for bad behaviour on the part of the Smith Administration,” he said.

“The Governor in reminding us that, ‘It is important to recognise that the Auditor General’s report, upon which the Public Accounts Committee’s report itself is based, covers only a part of the Cruise Ship Pier project’, is one key to where he went wrong in following the Government’s lead,” said Hon Fraser.

“For by him considering the current Port’s Project in his reaching a decision, he had lost the specifics of the mandate given to him for an Inquiry by both the Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee in their Reports,” he said.

“This other statement by the Governor, ‘The initial report from a study into our tendering and procurement procedures by the Caribbean Development Bank commissioned by the Premier with the agreement of Governor McCleary was not available to me until the end of December’, suggests that he relied heavily on this report in reaching his decision,” said Hon Fraser.

“If this is so, then it is hard to convince me or any rational thinker that the Premier played no role in him reaching this decision. Why would the Governor use a report commissioned by the Premier to decide whether to investigate the Premier?” he questioned.

“Then too, the Governor got lured into a trap when forced by the Premier to examine the Sea Cow’s Bay Harbour Project, and the Greenhouse Project in conjunction with the Cruise Pier Project. Even knowing full well that neither of these two projects had made it to the Public Accounts Committee, which in the very words of his two predecessors, is protocol,” he said.

Premier hijacked process

“The Premier who as I said took several years and much pressure from the Opposition was literally forced into making the Pier Park Report by the Auditor General public, but took only one week to get the Sea Cow’s Bay Harbour Project from the Auditor General through Cabinet and debated in the House of Assembly, and in time to reach the Governor’s desk to be considered along with the Cruise Pier Project Reports,” he said on the show.

“This type of behaviour gives rise for speculating that the process was hijacked through a type of highhanded manipulation of events. We would have thought that our Premier would have acted in a more transparent manner, and more importantly, that the Governor would have recognised it for what it really was,” said Hon Fraser.

“Did the Premier muddy the water to blind the fish? I certainly think so. I think the Governor, to his credit, must have seen the stench of politics in this cunning maneuvering to effect a desired outcome,” he added.