Two powerful HOA committee meetings this week!
On Tuesday January 14, 2014, the day after the Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith delivered his 2014, $301.7 Million budget, members of the House of Assembly Standing Finance Committee (SFC) got down to work.
They met on Tuesday at the House of Assembly Conference Room at the Richard C. Stoutt building in Road Town, the Virgin Islands’ Capital City where the powerful committee that examines the expenditure summoned the constitutional bodies such as the Office of the Auditor General, the Complains Commissioner and the House of Assembly, among others.
The information of the SFC proceedings is restrictive until officially released to the public in a report of the Standing Finance Committee.
The Meeting is chaired by the Speaker of the HOA Honourable Ingrid A. Moses, and includes all 13 elected members of Parliament.
The SFC is expected to go for another three to four weeks as most Departments and Statutory bodies are summoned before the Committee to justify their Budget request or to answer questions by Legislators on their operations.
Once this process is completed, then the 13 HOA members will debate the budget as it’s expected to then pass as the Government has the majority in Parliament with a 9 to 4 advantage.
Public Accounts Committee
Meanwhile, the HOA Public Accounts Committee (PAC) also is continuing to meet with its most recent meeting today, January 15, 2014. The powerful committee Chaired by Opposition Leader and the Virgin Islands Party Boss, Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal OBE, continues to probe the controversial Auditor General Report on the Ports Development project.
The report, which was leaked to selective media houses last year, detailed a web of corruption, conflict of interest and no one looking after the interest of the tax payers.
It’s this news site’s understanding that public officers directly involved in the project were summoned before the Committee today to answer questions.
Besides the PAC Chairman Hon. O’Neal (R9), the Committee also includes Opposition Members Hon. J. Alvin Christopher (R2), and Hon. Andrew A. Fahie (R1) and from the Government side are Hon. Marlon A. Penn (R8) and Hon. Alvera Maduro-Caines (R6).
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