Speak Out BVI: Caller accuses Govt. of lack of accountability
“The people’s money, the revenue that government collects and the revenue that belongs to the people of the country,” the caller said. “Who holds politicians accountable for the money that they spend and the contracts that they give out?” the caller asked host Doug Wheatley.
“Sometimes I look and I see contracts being given out for $1,000,000 [or] $30,000 and sometimes more than that. How do we get to that point where they’re spending out so much millions of dollars and we don’t have the proper checks and balances?”
Looking around, the caller observed, ‘they’ said Government didn’t have much money but then there are reportedly $30, 000 and $40, 000 contracts given out but when the work being done for the contracts is examined, the resultant quality was clearly at a poor standard.
The caller accused politicians and contractors of taking the people’s money and doing whatever they wanted without any accountability. He was insistent that there was no form of accountability even in place.
Mr Wheatley took the caller back down memory lane for a response to his questions but it first spoke about the signing of the protocols and the reason for it.
He said, “We ourselves were realising that the way we were spending money didn’t’ make any sense…”
Somewhere along the line, the host posited, “I think we started going off track and there was a combination of factors, the heavy de-centralisation brought about by the Ministerial System allowed Ministries and different people to be doing projects… the supervision was not always there.”
He said the reports issued by the Audit Department among others, were also several years late and this contributed significantly to a downward spiral. “Things just got out of hand,” Mr Wheatley added.
The talk show host also spoke of the Public Accounts Committee within the legislature, headed by the Leader of the Opposition. “It is a very powerful instrument but I don’t think that, in general, it hasn't been utilised to the fullest extent.” He added that over the years various excuses have been offered up, including the issue of reaching a quorum in addition to other challeges.
Mr Wheatley further claimed that the UK had taken a ‘hands off’ approach to the finances of the Territory for some time and he had been making this claim all along to much negative reaction.
The host said he felt vindicated, however, when the Protocols for Effective Financial Management allegedly mentioned that the UK would now be re-engaging the Territory on financial matters.
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