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William B. McCleary Out! John S. Duncan In! as VI Governor

Many labelled Governor William B. McCleary as the worst Governor the Virgin Islands had seen in many years!
William B. McCleary (right) departed the Virgin Islands on August 1, 2014. Many have labelled him one of the worst Governors in recent history. Under his tenure citizens experienced a new era of violations of their rights, violation of the Constitution and the Civil Service becoming a political body. Mr McCleary is to be replaced by Mr John S. Duncan in the coming months. Photo: Provided
Police Commissioner David Morris has been a close ally of outgoing Governor William B. McCleary. Mr McCleary has surrendered many of his powers to the Police Commissioner which resulted in Police Officer claiming that there had been a witch-hunt against some officers. Many of them have taken to the court to fight for their rights under the Constitution and the Police Act. Photo: VINO/File
Police Commissioner David Morris has been a close ally of outgoing Governor William B. McCleary. Mr McCleary has surrendered many of his powers to the Police Commissioner which resulted in Police Officer claiming that there had been a witch-hunt against some officers. Many of them have taken to the court to fight for their rights under the Constitution and the Police Act. Photo: VINO/File
ROAD TOWN, Tortola VI - It was on August 1, 2014 that the United Kingdom appointed Governor of the Virgin Islands William B. McCleary departed the Overseas Territory after almost four years as a civil servant in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). His rank was Governor.

No to Independence

The Virgin Islands (VI) is still a colony of Great Britain therefore Governors are appointed and not elected like most progressive countries. Recent public opinion in the VI shows that many residents have zero interest in independence at least not now under a National Democratic Party (NDP) government.

The public is afraid of continued victimization of public officers, the continued politicization of the education system, the censorship of the press, the blatant lies by many elected officials, the new divisive politics post the 2011 general elections, the use of the House of Assembly (HoA) to insult and ridicule ordinary residents where politicians can get away with it in the HoA under immunity from law suits, and the big one; corruption.

So at least for the next 10 to 20 years or so the VI can expect more Governors to be sent from the “mother country” the UK.

McCleary poor legacy-said he is no racist!

Many public officers and private citizens who spoke to this news site off the record confirmed that the outgoing Governor William B. McCleary was one of the worst Governors ever and have taking the country backwards in terms of upholding of laws, rights of Pubic Officers and being fair and objective.

When pressed for them to cite examples they came up with some 10 plus, mostly legal matters. They site for example the ongoing Bob Hodge case where Governor William B. McCleary violated the rights of the five men in the Exterdiction Case. He used the wrong law to instruct the Magistrate to start the procedure for sending the five men [Earl Delville Hodge known as 'Bob Hodge'; Former Customs Officer, Roberto Harrigan known as 'Tico'; Chad Skelton; Carlston Beazer; and Juan Valdez], to the United States of America for alleged drugs conspiracy.

The court judgement of the use by the Governor of the wrong law and violation of rights were handed down by Justice Albert Redhead. While the Crown dropped all local charges against the five men they still remained in prison since August 2011.

Once advised of his violation of the men’s rights on the issuing of the Extradition directive the Governor issued a new order under the correct law for the men to be sent to the USA, while many in the legal system cried foul and double jeopardy. The matter is now up for Judicial Review by the court as the five men remain behind bars with no local charges against them.

They also cited some three police cases in which the Governor surrendered his power under law to his pal David Morris the Commission of Police, another UK national. Mr. Morris then used that power to deny some officers promotion, interdict others for alleged wrong doing and place others before the Police Service Commission for discipline.

Many police officers saw it as blatant abuse of power by Morris that resulted in the moral of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force being at an all time low with many police leaks along with crime on the rise.

The critics of Morris also claimed that the UK police officers get special treatment and make much more money than other officers actually doing the work. However, the police officers speaking to this news site said they cannot go to the Governor for remedy or to find justice on these matters so they have to spend huge sums of monies on lawyers in the courts they can least afford.

Another of the many failures of Governor McCleary is the illegal firing of a Permanent Secretary (PS) following the Governor’s violation of the constitution of the Virgin Islands.

The PS was sent on leave after it was alleged he had a person working for one of his group of companies without a work permit. The Labour Department found that the officer had all of his work permits in order and placed same in writing.

The Officer went to court and was successful about the violation of his rights and the illegal act of sending him on leave without due process. The Public Service Commission conducted its own investigation on the matter and found no evidence of wrong doing and voted unanimously for the officer to return to work.

Governor McCleary then violated the constitution by interfering and instructed the PSC an independent constitutional body after the decision to reinstall the officer was sent to him according to documents obtained by this news site.

With the backing of some elements in the NDP Cabinet the officer was then terminated without due cause, however it’s unclear the status of the matter at this time.

Janet Williams a long time observer of VI politics said this governor had a chance to stand up for public officers when they were being pushed around and out by the NDP following the 2011 general elections but “he did nothing, he did not fight for officers he stood in silence…it’s a shame; it’s a bad legacy”!..The service is now a political body which it is not supposed to be…” she continued.

The Opposition has also been critical of the Governor as they brought many weighty matters to his attention including the alleged violation of civil servants, the termination of others and many being forced to retire over politics however nothing was done.

Recently, the Opposition led Public Accounts Committee Chaired by Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal OBE asked the Governor to appoint a Commission of Inquiry to further investigate the Port Development Project after two investigative reports found conflict of interest, corruption and no one looking out for tax payers. He has not.

Governor McCleary told a local radio Morning Ride talk show that he is not a racist! To give him credit he did stand up to the NDP Censor Bill passed in the HoA to shut down press freedom and place journalists in jail. He refused to sign the bill following pressure from the FCO, the international community and press freedom advocates both locally and regionally.

He demanded that a clause be placed in the bill to allow the press to report facts on any government that is in the public interest. However it’s left to be seen who decides and how it’s determined what is in the public interest.

31 Responses to “William B. McCleary Out! John S. Duncan In! as VI Governor”

  • ting to talk (02/08/2014, 14:55) Like (24) Dislike (3) Reply
    Wow article on point
  • civil servant (02/08/2014, 15:01) Like (5) Dislike (1) Reply
    Hope the other one is much better
    • chad (02/08/2014, 16:34) Like (9) Dislike (5) Reply
      The in-coming governor is the one who closed down the Cayman Islands government.
      • Slim Jim (03/08/2014, 01:49) Like (17) Dislike (1) Reply
        Dude... while you may not have liked the past Governor, don't tell a bold-faced lie on the new guy before he even gets here!
        For the record the past Governor of the Cayman Islands was Duncan Taylor (January 15, 2010 – August 7, 2013) NOT Mr John S. Duncan. Please get your facts straight....
        See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor_of_the_Cayman_Islands for verification!
    • mother hen (02/08/2014, 17:55) Like (4) Dislike (2) Reply
      I urged all civil servants to be persistent and not give in easily to the odds they encounter on a daily basis from the NDP with no help from the gov or DG.

  • Serpico (02/08/2014, 15:05) Like (8) Dislike (8) Reply
    The undemocratically "selected" governors in 2014 is a disgrace. Colonialism and other isms and skizms are alive and well in da VI and elsewhere.
  • maude (02/08/2014, 16:36) Like (0) Dislike (4) Reply
    lord the govenor gone ? thank god .so when the other partner going?i wonder if is back to the cayman they going.. i know that she aint going no way now. he he .
  • pat (02/08/2014, 17:29) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
    You know what you had but you do not know what is coming
  • xxxxxxxx (02/08/2014, 17:41) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
    c'mon BVI we can build a better nation!
  • colonial powers (02/08/2014, 17:43) Like (0) Dislike (14) Reply
    SLAVERY AINT DONE YET
  • rattie (02/08/2014, 17:50) Like (1) Dislike (1) Reply
    BVIslanders should rise above the challenges and emulate the resilient attitude of leaders who fought for the freedom of the country.

  • freedom (02/08/2014, 21:43) Like (4) Dislike (9) Reply
    Free bob dem
  • YAWN (03/08/2014, 00:36) Like (12) Dislike (12) Reply
    oh great another albino from the queen when is a brother going to get a shot to be governor
  • yellow (03/08/2014, 07:19) Like (12) Dislike (6) Reply
    This was the best governor we had me aint care what a man say
  • Army (03/08/2014, 12:46) Like (1) Dislike (2) Reply
    All governors are the same so what's the fuss
  • kkk (03/08/2014, 14:38) Like (2) Dislike (5) Reply
    "I am not a racist" ok then
  • Wig (03/08/2014, 17:17) Like (1) Dislike (5) Reply
    Why was he given additional time here? Is the parole board functioning yet? They say we must qualify for a job.
    How many who come here are qualified for the job of governor? Guess he was here on a long vacation.
    Y
  • mad man (03/08/2014, 19:28) Like (1) Dislike (4) Reply
    hope Morris is next to go!!!!!!
    • Bomb shell @ mad man (06/08/2014, 08:45) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      A bomb shell will drop Morris should go not to avoid the embarrastment. If he know he will go. And behind Morris more will go. Just a matter of time.
  • VG (03/08/2014, 19:35) Like (1) Dislike (1) Reply
    I hope this governor does what he was sent to do....Not to come here to join country clubs and be on a 4 year vacation in the Caribbean. I wonder if he can shut down this government? we need help fast.....
  • BB Boys (04/08/2014, 01:52) Like (0) Dislike (5) Reply
    I just hope this governor doesnt come here and jump into bed with the pdn and start victimizing the locals all over again like the last one.
  • Real (04/08/2014, 04:11) Like (12) Dislike (3) Reply
    Honestly, what a pathetic little culture. This man did more good for the BVI than any of the politicians elected by the people. He did not steal from you, lie to you, sell you and the Territory out, use crown land for his own personal wealth accumulation (Fish Bay Land fill). The list goes on and on, however, all the worthy (hahahaha) people can concentrate on is a black man in the positon or a local. What do you honestly think would happen? With no headmaster in the playground, the politicians and public servants would be stealing from tye people hand over fist.
  • Yes (04/08/2014, 11:46) Like (1) Dislike (2) Reply
    DO NOT LET THE DOOR HIT HIM
  • one eye (05/08/2014, 10:02) Like (0) Dislike (1) Reply
    I hope this governor do more to bring transparency, and accountability from these politicians. They have been given a free pass to do what they want, how they want and when they want. Corruption must be thoroughly investigated and if it is found that there is this germ in government, the perpetrators must be brought to justice. Mr. Governor please make the Attorney General Office do its job, and you please do yours to bring Honesty, Transparency, Integrity and Respect back into Government of these beautiful Virgin Islands. Right now there is a very dark cloud of all kinds of negative suspicions and we the people need this dark cloud lifted and removed forever.
  • Vigilate (05/08/2014, 14:46) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
    We had some outstanding AG's in the past who did their work and gave solid advice to the governors and goverment. Look at how the economy has expanded as a result of the IBC Act which was written by an AG and not by someone who was brought in from overseas. It was known at the time that the governor of the day did not want the AG to draft that Act but he did it nevertheless. We are now celebrating 30 years of that Act this month.
  • big bird (06/08/2014, 08:04) Like (1) Dislike (1) Reply
    There was no strategic purpose for HE to behave the way he did in the BVI; just another damned I do not care I am only here for x number of years
  • ABC (07/08/2014, 23:36) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    How can what happen in the BVI ?. We have lawlessness in tola at many levels.
  • Mick Mars (08/08/2014, 07:48) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    I believe the FCO cannot turn a blind eye to this record


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