Leader of the Opposition Hon. Ralph T. O'Neal is calling for constitutional changes, especially to see the sixth ministry becoming a reality. Photo: VINO File

In an exclusive interview with Virgin Islands News Online in late November 2011, Hon. O’Neal, whose government was defeated at the November 7, 2011 polls, said what were needed were some constitutional changes and the quicker “they are done the better”.

He explained that his Government had made an effort to get an additional minister which would have been a Minister for Tourism but the United Kingdom tried getting the House of Assembly (HOA) increased by two, before a 6th minister could have been chosen.

“But I know having worked in the system that a sixth minister is needed and I heard the Deputy Premier (Dr. Kedrick Pickering) talking about a Minister for Tourism. And you have Works and Communications which is a big ministry; Health alone is a big ministry and health has other things tied in; Natural Resources and Labour and Labour is a big subject; Tourism is also a large one and Education Sport and Culture,” he pointed out.

The former Premier said with a Premier looking over those ministries, it cannot be done properly unless he has the time and that was where the 6th minister came in, where he or she will be able to take on one of the bigger subjects, allowing the Premier to overlook all the ministries along with some smaller subjects and Finance.

Asked what would have been his suggestion for the sixth minister, he said: “The 6th minister will become Minister for Tourism and maybe some other smaller subject but the main one is Tourism.”
He explained that lots of talks were held about having the sixth minister but that the process had started off wrong.

Hon. O'Neal, a former Premier and Minister for Tourism supports having a sixth Minister responsible for Tourism.

“… when the British Government say they will need to have a report to put in the need for this person, the first thing they wanted to do was a constitutional study made by someone to provide evidence for an addition to the House and they were proposing two members more, either district as in two more or increasing the number of At Large, from four to six.”

However, he said when the survey was done it was poorly attended because “the governor who we had at the time didn’t know what he was doing and it just faded out”.

Meanwhile, Deputy Premier Dr. Kedrick Pickering had said on NDP Radio on Monday November 21, 2011 that the new Government is seeking to have an “overall restructuring” of the Ministries. He was responding to a caller who had wanted to know if Government was going to address that issue as promised. “You guys have been campaigning on having a Minister of Tourism. Is this something that we are going to see happening because I am not hearing anything about that,” the caller had inquired.

“The Premier as you know is away in London attending to serious matters of state and one of the things that he is looking at is the overall restructuring of the ministries. We are assigning different aspects of portfolios in different places where there are likely be better suited. The system in place now is one that has been in place from way back when, probably going back 40 years, so there is some restructuring that he is looking at and it will take some time to ensure that it is done right but we did campaign on that issue and it is something that will definitely be given the prominence that it deserves,” Dr. Pickering had stated to the caller.

Deputy Premier Dr. Kedrick Pickering says a sixth Minister is high on the Government's agenda.

But the NDP was not the only party that had suggested a 6th Minister during the campaign trail. The People’s Patriotic Alliance (PPA) had also put forward a proposal to the public and speaking exclusively to Virgin Islands News Online, had said one of its proposed ideas of political reform was to increase the HOA to have a sixth ministry that would give the necessary attention to tourism and culture, which they believe are the Territory’s main revenue industries.

According to PPA member Elton Callwood, tourism was not getting the attention it deserved because the portfolios under the Premier are big. The Premier currently holds responsibility for Tourism and Finance.
“Finance itself is a big issue and it is even bigger now with the recession. Tourism, in the midst of the recession, is being handed a soggy dollar … and you have Culture which anyone can tell you is going by the wayside. That is under the Minister of Education, who has a big portfolio of trying to grow education from good to great. Let’s marry tourism and culture and put them together in one package,” Mr.Callwood had proposed.

The provision in the 2007 Constitution Order of the Virgin Islands allows for two additional seats to the membership of the House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands, which would be mandatory for a sixth minister of cabinet.