Christopher, Malone oppose CDB’s $15M loan, questions logistics
Hon. Christopher suggested the money be put on hold. Photo: VINO
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – Two of the Territory’s legislators openly opposed the $15M borrowed from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for road rehabilitation during the House of Assembly sitting held on Tuesday July 12.
Second District Representative Alvin Christopher and At Large Representative Vernon Malone shocked many when they expressed scepticism over the necessity to borrow the money and the implication the Territory faces with the United Kingdom’s borrowing guidelines.
Hon. Christopher pointed out that he has had intimate knowledge of many of the loans taken by Governments over the past 16 years and opined that spending the money needs to be put on hold.
“I think we need to come back to this House and look at the financial guidelines and financial legislation. We need to make adjustments as a developing country, we must come to grips as a country on how we spend our own money. There are a lot of questions Mr. Speaker into the accountability on the resources of our own nation that we can’t give account for,” Hon Christopher stated, as part of his contribution to the Motion to approve the spending of the money.
Hon. Malone wants to know where is the document to show what the money will be used for. Photo: VINO
The CDB has approved the $15,720,000 loan to the Virgin Islands’ Government for the purpose of financing the Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project following the damage to the infrastructure caused by Tropical Storm Otto last year.
However, the 2nd district rep. told members of the House that “this country since 2007 has not given an account to the people of how we have spent the resources of the country. We are faced with threats from the UK Government, if we are going to continue to spend and borrow what is the step that they are going to take”.
Hon. Christopher further stated, “This is not the only borrowing we need to take us through the other projects that this Government is involved with. Mr. Speaker it’s not a quick fix to fix some roads. It is a question, in my opinion, is where the BVI go from here. Are we going forward, or are we going backward in borrowing this money?”
He recommended that the solution to the problem could be handled internally with a positive attitude. According to Hon. Christopher, “we can adjust our lifestyle from within to meet some of what we have to do.”
He added, “We can put aside some of the projects and allowances and show that we are serious at this time in assisting with the finances in the BVI. Mr. Speaker these are the questions we must face and as leaders…there is not one member in this House who can tell me that they don’t have concerns about that.”
“Borrowing is not a quick fix, it is not always how much money you have Mr. Speaker. Is what you do with it, how you spend it. You can borrow all the money you can and you can still be broke.”
The legality of passing the Motion without the Finance Minister present at the sitting was also pointed out by the 2nd district rep. Premier and Finance Minister Ralph T O’Neal was absent during the afternoon session.
“To borrow the money just to fix the roads is misleading in my opinion, Mr. Speaker I need to know what are the consequences in going in that direction…I had considered approaching them [Government] a few weeks ago on what I thought. Mr. Speaker I even question the legality of the motion since the Premier who is on island is not in the HOA’s afternoon sitting…It is out of order and out of line, it is not simple and its pushing the button and things that I don’t want to be a part of in the 16 years I am here,” Hon. Christopher bluntly stated.
Premier O’Neal (left) and Hon Fraser travelled to Barbados earlier in the year to secure the loan. Photo: VINO
Meanwhile, Hon. Malone asked where is the document that supports $15M is needed to do the infrastructural works. He stated that since elected to office in 2007, he has openly stated that spending in excess would lead the country on the brink of bankruptcy.
“It is degrading as a country. A country that has made so much money and a country that has made such bad use of the money and here we are today going to borrow this money. But we don’t know what is the state of the finances of the country!” he proclaimed.
He acknowledged when a new Government goes into power, instead of continuing some of the projects left in limbo, it would spend additional millions to change the plans.
“Yet you have people working for $4 per hour. The signs of poverty… this is what is happening and I cannot associate myself with these types of actions. I don’t care, don’t give me any projects, but these things are wrong and we need, all of us, to see where we are? At least I don’t know and when we discover that, we need to ask ourselves where are we going to go? If someone runs a business the way we run the finances of this country you would have gone bankrupt long ago. We have to take stock of what we are doing,” Hon. Malone charged.
He told members of the House that any money borrowed from the CDB must be approved by the Secretary of State of the United Kingdom, and disclosed when he read the document he thought that the VI is moving back to a state of colonisation “that we saw 30 to 50 years ago”.
“When I read the UK Government document that says what we have to do with our budget and outside of the guideline I felt sick to my core,” he admitted. “Instead of moving to financial independence, the BVI is regressing and who will we blame?”
Hon. Malone also pointed out that the money borrowed is outside the UK’s borrowing guidelines and wanted to know if the figure of $15M snatched from the sky.
Against this backdrop, he stated that if this trend continues the future generation will suffer due to “our financial irresponsibility”.
He suggested that politicians must have a clearer view opportunity of the Territory’s finances. “Mr. Speaker it does not matter to me who I offend but we need to take a fresh look at our financial management or else we face an uncertain future.”
Lending support to the Motion were Deputy Premier Dancia Penn, QC; Minister for Communications and Works Julian Fraser RA; 4th District Representative Dr. Vincent Scatliffe and At Large Rep. Irene Penn O’Neal.
Furthermore, Minister Fraser said an oversight committee would be established because the funds have to be accounted for.
The House is in recess until Thursday July 14 when the Motion will be brought up again.
21 Responses to “Christopher, Malone oppose CDB’s $15M loan, questions logistics”
Leave a Reply
Follow Us On
Related posts
Popular Tags
Recent Comments
- FAST TRACK on UPDATE – Winston Wilson yet to take up position; cost of contract still unknown
- RAT TAIL on Her Majesty’s Prison: Tortola Hilton Hotel & Resort?
- egg face on Rapido, Simple and Easy, says BVI’s new Volleyball Coach!
- weed on Luis Sprauve trial still up in the air
- Lower Estate on Shots fired in Huntums Ghut; no injuries reported!
its so strange that the opposition sat by and said nothing and these 2 strange loose cannons from brewers bay tried to sabotage us…..ndp it wont be 11-2 this time…..i think i’ll make it 9-4
i refuse to comment on these two jokers……..judases??
take that vip loyalist
Yes we will give them NDP just four seats…..Mr. Smith, Pickering, Ronnie and Mark if he stop getting personal on the platform and tell we from the fourth what he will do!
Malone an Chris should leave the VIP and start their own party!
and which one will be leader?
I am in total agreement with Hon Christopher and Hon Malone on this matter. We cannot continue to borrow our way out of problems. We cannot on one hand say revenue is down and still continue borrowing. Where is the money going to come from to pay back these loans. I too was wondering where the figure of 15 million came from, was a complete investigation done. Which engineering firm carried out the study and if so where is it? This is just like when the NDP was in and we had a similar natural disaster and they borrowed 10 million to do the same thing. Instaed of quick fixes what we need is a comprehensive study of our infrastructure present and future requirements. We should create a national policy on how our infrastructure should be handled. Create somekind of a blueprint on the way way forward. Let us at least create a twenty five to thirty year plan on how to do this. We really cannot continue to only plan for every four years this dosent work anymore.
This is why I have to admire Chris. He is the only politician to stand against the BS those in power want to be doing… no matter the ruling party!
The people of the BVI have to appreciate the independence that is expressed by Hon Christopher and Malone. Or Government is accountable to us all. There is no party politics in the HOA. A very serious issue of STATE was expressed. BVI-lander as at risk of loosing our financial independence. Thank you members for your loyalty to the country over party
Stop focusing on Party Loyalty and see what these two Men are saying makes sense. The BVI if continue on this trend will become further dependant on the UK. Not only that; we are the only country that accepts and signs contracts that are 3 times in excess of the actual work or cost of the Job. Who are we fooling. Our system is based on Family helping family; Friend helping friend and what we are going to be left with is a completely broke BVI. There is no cost management in the BVI Government. A wall went up on one side but not on the other side. When you look at who owns and operate business on the other side then you understand why the wall went on only on one side.
Quit thinking party and start realizing that the whole BVI is involved in this and we are the ones that will suffer. The 80/20 percent of wealth that is here in the BVI means that when the BVI falls 20% will survive and the other 80% will be left with nothing.
People don’t be fools. Let the Government become accountable in their spending, protest these over stated contracts, demand to see what infrastructure plans are in place how, who and extended year plans are attached to them. Be wise and listen to who have your best interest and the interest of our bless and beautiful virgin islands at heart.
You are absolutely correct!!! If you look back 3-5 years ago, Anguilla, Cayman and Turks were boasting about how great their economies were and the high standard of living. Look at each of those places now! TOTAL CHAOS!! WHY? Poor governance, poor financial decisions, borrowing more than they could pay and moreso, the UK leaving them on their own because of their bad decisions. What next? They will raise taxes on us ALL as that’s the only way to increase government revenues immediately! When the BVI sends their budget to the UK for approval and UK send it back saying “CUT IT” do you realise what that means? We spend well over $100million annually just to operate the civil service. Government pension scheme is 100 paid by Government.
People need to put politics aside because at the end of it all, EVERYBODY will feel the pain somehow!! Where is the plan to show where the 15mil will be spent? They just spent over $2Mil fixing roads! When we asked if the 2mil is being spent wisely we were told YES, they have a plan and this time it will be done right! It rained for a few hours last week and with that, majority of the ‘fixed’ roads are in dire disrepair again!!! So that’s $2Mil down the drain LITERALLY! So, they want another $15mil for similar works and are AGAIN promising it will be done right!!! When will we learn? When will we realise that the money will run out at some point and we’ll be left with NOTHING?
We are to our limit with borrowing and spending but yet the hospital isn’t complete, schools need fixing, water issues ongoing, BVIEC issues ongoing!! If we are already close to being in the red, how will we address these issues?? People in the Caymans went from sticking their noses up at other Territories because they were ‘on top’ to now demonstrating in the streets, protesting increase in taxes and other measures put in place by Government because of their economic situation. I don’t believe in fear tactics and gloom and doom in the name of politics, this is REAL!
Myron scatter your funny self with tis hogwash
HAHA! YOU keep trying to figure out who I am!! Myron? Please!!! You can’t dispute anything I have said, all you can do is spew negativity! Get a damn life man!!
we know who you are but instead of you looking after your law place from going broke you got time to be here from news site to news site on the blogs…Chris got what coming for he a defeat by Skelton-Cline and Malone he done seal his faith….. my two cents
I strongly agree with Christopher and Malone. Government is in too much debt to be borrowing and have not idea as to how it is going to be paid. There are Civil Servants out there who is receiving travelling allowance and do not want to use their vehicles. If you receive travelling allowance use your vehicle and not the Govenment vehilce. If they want to use the Government Vehicle, then give the Government back the travelling allowance that is given to you.
A key responsibility of any leader/manager public or private is effective control and management of financial resources. He/she must operate within boundaries and expend optimal resources to achieve maximum results for their shareholders; constituents for the VI government. The VI government as any other government must deliver a myriad of services including paving streets, collecting garbage, producing and delivering potable water, providing accessible health care, providing educational opportunities, creating frame work economic growth……..etc. It employs two types of budgets to deliver these critical services: operations and management, and capital.
Virgin Islanders demand and expect high quality infrastructure to support their quality of life. But they also expect to get best value infrastructure at the least cost. These needs can be met by(1) pay-as-you-go,(2) debt (borrowing), (3)accumulation in a reserve fund, or (4) from unanticipated surpluses. Neither (1), (3), or (4) are viable options at this time to fund the urgent critical needs. The government is not generating enough revenue in the short-term to fund its critical capital needs by (1). Of course, it can save and fund them by (1) but some of the projects are needed now. Secondly, it can cut other programs to fund its its capital need. But what programs are Virgin Islanders willing to sacrifice? Assuming that they want these projects now rather than later, the best option is debt.
Government must be a good steward of financial and other resources, getting the bast bang for the buck. But Virgin Islanders must also decide what level of services they want, what capital projects they want to fund, how they want to fund those projects, what sacrifices they want to make , or what pain they want to endure.
Moreover, there is work in progress on some projects and others need to get started. True, they can be deferred but there are opportunity costs. We will be foregoing the opportunity to stimulate a slumping economy, as well as slow growth and development.
Alvin Christopher goal is to be the Premier but it’s always good to dream…
not in this country..thoes who waz there brough us to zero now playing hero…please!!! tell dem Bronx Bummer
these 2 fools lives in the district where most of the money will be spent and still making noise…..shut them off ralph
ndp this is a plot….vip borrow money- they know they cant get back in- so whoever gets in gets …….WOW….SMART VIP LOLOLOL
KATTYESES FINANCIAL LOANS
We offer loans at 2% interest rate (Between 1,000 USD to 100,000,000 USD). Get back if interested:
We will furnish you with further instructions.
Regards,
DR. KATTYESES
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Contact email: kattyeses@gmail.com