Elected officials to be stripped of power to help residents; Governor is King!
This is following the April 2022 release of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report in which the Governors over the years have been given a pass for their failures in the good governance partnership; however, everything was blamed on the elected officials.
Governor could do no wrong?
The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF), for example, has been rocked with mismanagement, a high crime rate, numerous unsolved murders, police officers accused of drug running and scandals over the many years, along with the public having little confidence in the judicial system where residents are on remand for over four years; however, those areas under the portfolio of Governors were ignored.
However, the focus of a proposal in a draft document is to give all the powers to an unelected Governor. In other words, direct rule without the suspension of the constitution, which is on the table by the Natalio D. Wheatley-led Unity Government.
In the proposal yet to be discussed with the public, those elected will become powerless to help residents unless the Governor agrees, according to information reaching our news centre from two senior Unity Government officials.
The coalition government is proposing the immediate transition of House of Assembly (HoA) Assistance Grants Programmes to the Social Development Department. This was a small portion of funds in a programme given to each of the 13 elected Members of the HoA for small projects, to help those in the territory facing financial hardships, to help students in college, to assist residents in need with medical bills and to sponsor events in the community.
No help unless you go to a bureaucrat
In about two to three ministries there are also special assistance grants to help farmers, fisher folks, small businesses, and students who may not have received a scholarship. They will now have to be pre-approved by the Deputy Governor's Office, according to the Unity regime's draft proposal.
In keeping with stripping the local elected officials of all powers and transferring them to a one-man governor, the HoA will be forced to amend laws to remove discretionary powers of Ministers to approve any assistance grants going forward, according to the draft proposal on the table with both the Governor and the United Kingdom.
Under the direct rule draft proposal, short of the suspension of the constitution, the Governor will oversee the conducting of independent Gateway Reviews every three months over the course of the reform process to assess the progress of reform based on the work programme for implementation of the Col recommendations and other reforms.
You have to sign the agreement or else?
This will not just be in a proposal but the Government of National Unity and the UK Government will enter into a binding agreement for the implementation of the Col report recommendations and delivery of other reforms, based on the framework set out in the draft document not yet discussed with the public or even some backbenchers, according to sources.
Just like what would have happened if the constitution was suspended, the Governor under the draft proposal will establish an Advisory Council to advise the Governor and Government on implementing the agreed recommendations of the Col report and other reforms.
In a recent media interview, the UK-appointed Governor John J. Rankin, CMG claimed that those who are against direct rule and suspension of the constitution “are in the minority”. It is unclear how Mr Rankin came up with what many believe is an erroneous assumption.
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54 Responses to “Elected officials to be stripped of power to help residents; Governor is King!”
of applying could not get an answer from immigration on the application status, the friend write the Governor on the matter and in one week the Governor responded and in two weeks immigration deliver a letter by hand to my friend...These people who we treated inhumane and with disrespect have kids that born here, so,.Can't ignore these issues..That is just one of many issues..This is real.
ALL WHAT HE LOOKING FOR AND STANS BACK AND WAIT.
BARRY SAY YOU WILL HEAR.
Some Past and present politicians have messed up badly the result are for all to see however the UK is also a defendant as well, they have a serious responsibility for these islands and they stand by for decades and allow these problems to escalate, there were opportunities missed to deal with these problems. They must sholder some of these charges unless this was part of a bigger game. Making the Governor seems like God himself and transferring more powers to him to rectify the problems is not the only solution, if our senior civil servants and political parties cannot come up with sensible and practical solution in these times to slove these administrative issues, then we have wasted precious tax payers monies and University time over the years.
If this is true then it would have made sense to allow bate Hill to seized Road Town and Anegada without all that fuss in the first place. Back then our people had guts, today we have greed and selfish desires. We still have that employee mentality, some in the public domain and politicians believe the governor and the Foreign/commonwealth office is our best hope.
Irrespective of the governor complexion, that's not what I am getting at, it's our inability to think logically, do for self, and display political maturity. If what we are reading is true, and this is the best the DR and unity gov could have come up with. Then we will remain with serious issues after the direct rule honeymoon.
It appears that the UK told the politicians privately that they will impose direct rule no matter what , or they told them that we have dirt on you all and if you don't do as we say we will expose you. And since every man wants to save his own skin then, they just went along. This is what I believe without any hard evidence but time will tell.
Where ever the British go they destroy.the most corrupt nation is England. I say stop being cowards and fight for ur country.when they take over then there citizen's will control everything.they tell other countries about democracy, we have an appointed government. It's time for a revolution. I rather a corrupt local government than a corrupt British government. Remember they still see us as inferior. %... England.
Here we go again another black man selling his own people to the white man. If anyone told me that Wheatley his own I would not have believed. UK having direct rule from England no matter cause they are ruling from right here in Tortola through the bas @## governor. May God have mercy on the men and women without balls that we elected to protect us. Shame shame shame on all of you so called leaders.