‘This is a time of challenges’- Premier Smith in doom & gloom speech
In the almost 25-minute public speech aired on radio and television yesterday December 6, 2016 the Premier and Minister of Finance took no responsibility for his administration’s reckless spending of public funds (something Governor John S. Duncan OBE confirmed), lack of financial transparency, and for leaving the country broke.
Instead, like most of his consultant written speeches, he blamed the state of the Virgin Islands (VI) financial hardship on the “persistent global economic weakness eight years after the financial crisis of 2008…”
Not my fault
In his continued gloom and doom speech, a much departure from fooling the people that the economy is robust and all is well, he admitted that for the VI “this is a time of challenges.”
The Minister of Finance went on to talk “about the challenges we face and the steps your Government have taken and are taking to overcome those challenges and secure our shared future.”
In regards to the 2017 Budget Premier Smith now in his fourth successive term (1999- current) as an elected Member of Parliament told the public “this year, we will be submitting our budget somewhat later than is customary – likely in January.”
He never admitted to the continued financial hardship brought on by some of his Ministers but claim that “we want to take our time in reviewing the allocations to the various programmes that are carried on to ensure the most efficient use of Government resources…and this includes developing our capital programmes.”
In putting a spin on the late 2017 Budget, Dr Smith said “there are a number of critical decisions that have to be made on this front and we don’t want to make hasty judgments.”
Why vendors can’t get paid?
There continues to be an outcry by local and overseas vendors that they cannot obtain regular and timely payment from the Government of the VI. In response, in his national address, the Leader of Government Business told the public “timely payments to vendors for services rendered is an issue which is largely related to the manner in which revenue is received by government; we have now put systems in place so that Vendors can be assured of timely payments for services rendered, that they too can meet their obligations.”
NDP flip-flops again
What is of interest is that in the 2011 general election campaign when the then ruling Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Government of Premier and Minister of Finance Hon Ralph T. O’Neal OBE told the people that the cause of the territory’s economic slowdown was because of the global financial crisis, it was the Dr Smith led NDP that told the people that was not so and it was because of the VIP’s reckless spending and inability to manage the VI’s finances.
However, today we see the NDP admitting what Hon O’Neal said to justify the financial hardship. In the Premier’s speech of yesterday he said “on the wider matter of the challenges to the economy, the roots of this year’s issues stretch back to 2008 when the financial crisis set off the worst global recession since the Great Depression.”
He said “Financial services institutions that do business here in the BVI were particularly hard hit as the global flow of investment slowed down sharply.”
Dr Smith claimed “then as the global economy began to recover, a new shock to the system was felt as regulators in the United States of America, United Kingdom and European Union all began to crack down hard on banks and other financial institutions.”
He told residents in his address “that situation became significantly more difficult with the publication of the so-called “Panama Papers….despite the fact that these papers were illegally hacked from a law firm”.
The speech ignored the two sister islands of Jost van Dyke and Anegada and only addressed issues on Virgin Gorda.
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40 Responses to “‘This is a time of challenges’- Premier Smith in doom & gloom speech”
No figures, no percentages to substantiate all the taxpayers money spent to date on all these efforts he so proudly expressed, that they have been undertaking.
Here we have a Premier, who up until 2015, repeatedly expressed how the economy was robust, and now blaming the 2008 financial crisis for his administration economic challenges, which he has just finally discovered, are facing our country.
We, joe public, knew that our economy was not robust all along. You premier and your band of thi$ves were/are hell bent on making sure by the time you’ll leave public office, there will be only two class of people in our country- The multi-millionaires and the working poor.
That’s what you’ll full speed ahead trying to create. The people spoke and still warning you’ll, but still you’ll not listening. But whatever we get, we will deserve because we continue to sit back and allow you’ll to lead us straight on to the edge of the cliff.
As polished as that speech was, it gave us nothing that we didnot know already. That speech could have tickled us 12, maybe 15 years ago, but this is the 21st Century. It cannot soothe the emotional senses like it used to do back in the days when we were just coming into our own.
It just goes to show how out of touch you and your speech writers are with your constituents in these modern times. You’ll continue to insult our intelligence, over and over again.
“The financial services sector has somewhat decline.”
Somewhat…man get the hell out of here with that nonesense talk. By what percentages, before and after the hit? It has been declining for years. What was the impact? Somewhat…we will guess?
You and your team are living in a fantasy world. He contends that while other countries are in turmoil and struggling with divisions over race, hatred towards each other, etc., we here in the Virgin Islands are not facing those challenges.
Please! Give us a break. You’ll jet-setting so frequently that you’ll have lost touch with what’s dividing-up our country as you speak. There is war in a Babylon minister among our people of one ethnicity.
Premier, it’s time for you to throw in the towel and take your wife with you. You’ll have been of great service to the country, but today is a new day, and you’ll thinking is archaic.
Simple modern speech-
People of our beloved Virgin Islands, our situation is such and such.
But don’t fear. We are tirelessly making all efforts to sustain our present and future outlook. We have embarked on an ambitious plan, which includes the following: A, B, C.
From these efforts we are expecting to produce the following short and long-term outcomes. Projections are describe as such and such, percentages, figures, etc. These measures would most certainly assure us that our economy will be robust once again.
How difficult can that be if you’re truly leveling with the public and have nothing to hide?
We expected to see miracles when Obama was elected none happened and this is the biggest economy on the planet...
If John Public has the answers why are they not published and why do we not encourage rather than always discredit and discourage....
Of the worst Presidents. Mr. Obama spent most of his time hobnobbing with the rich and famous, playing golf and globe trotting.
Orlando is neither a leader nor a great politician he destroyed the country and the entire NDP team needs to be put down Skelton Pickering Walwyn all of them. Let's drain the swamp
Sound familiar?
Only now this $%^& j*^k knows that challenging times have been here?
Just saying. You should check your facts. China has the second largest economy. America is # 1.
I feel that if I squeeze in my belt one iota more, my poor intestines will pop out!
Get ur own name
I have been using concerned for the past 4 years