Hon. Fraser lashes back at Premier’s claims
In a press release sent to selected media houses, Premier Smith reportedly slammed the VIP for engaging in an anti-development crusade, but according to Hon. Fraser, the Premier is simply resorting to a failed tactic in trying to label the VIP as anti-development.
Hon. Fraser said it was a tactic he employed during the 2007 election campaign, which the National Democratic Party (NDP) lost.
Regarding claims made by the Premier that Hon. Fraser was trying to confuse the community in stating at a recent community meeting that the Protocols for Effective Financial Management were not being followed, Hon. Fraser said he gave the people of the community every section of the Protocols that is being violated, and stands by his claims.
Hon. Fraser noted the relevant sections of the protocols in disputing this; namely: Section 27 of The Protocols says: The Government of The Virgin Islands will obtain, on an annual basis, written approval from the Secretary of State before… c) proceeding with any new projects with a lifetime value of more than five (5%), in our case four (4%), of forecast recurrent revenue.
Hon. Fraser in his counter claim expressed, “the Premier is misleading the public because the Airport Project; Cruise Pier Project; and Senior Citizen Home projects have been proceeded upon, for we already know that studies and consultancies have already cost the government over half a million dollars on the Airport project; over a million dollars has already been spent on construction on the Senior Citizen home; and only God knows how much has been spent on the Pier Project, but we know they are full speed on it.
“One thing we know is that they are all over the 4% of forecast recurrent revenue,” Hon. Fraser said, “So Mr. Premier, what are you waiting for?”
Commenting on the VIP’s reported lack of concern for the people of the Virgin Islands, Hon. Fraser said, “the Premier has it all wrong, for the VIP is the Party that champions the Petty Contract system, and has through the years endured the wrath of NDP's criticisms of wasteful spending and lack of transparency, as they vilified the Petty Contract System. As such, they went and agreed to the Protocols, which states in Section 11 (b): Tendering and Procurement: All projects must be subjected to a Tendering and Procurement process that guarantees the highest levels of transparency and fairness practicable.”
“What the Premier has done instead,” Hon. Fraser expressed, “is to try and avoid the tendering and procurement process through contract splitting, a practice of breaking up a project into a series of Petty Contracts.”
He argued that this is clearly a violation of Section 11(b) of the same Protocols which the Premier signed on April 23, 2013 with the Government of the United Kingdom.
The Third District Representative also countered the Premier’s claim that the government “is not collecting on the citizenship and immigrant status with the United States, nor is the government diving into their property ownership or income.”
He referenced a statement made by the Premier in the House of Assembly (HOA) on June 29, 2012 on the "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)" and asked for an explanation.
Hon Fraser said, “in this statement it was revealed that a committee has been established for the sole purpose of exploring the option of a government to government treaty whereby the Virgin Islands would collect information on US Citizens and Green Card Holders and report it to the US Government.”
According to Hon. Fraser, “the Premier needs to come clean on this.”
In direct response to Premier Smith’s statement supporting the use of CCTV cameras in crime detection and prevention, Hon. Fraser further stated, “The Premier obviously remains oblivious to what criminologists and others studying cameras have found and concluded from meta-analyses from the UK, along with preliminary findings from the US, which indicates strongly that video surveillance has little to no positive impact on crime.”
The Third District Representative added, The Premier is non-factual in his claim that he (Hon. Fraser) gave out contracts, since unlike his Administration, only [Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE] was authorized to give out contracts, not Ministers.
“As to his claim that contracts were issued on the day before the elections,” Hon. Fraser said, “none of the contracts I spoke of fits that bill, as they were all issued well in advance of the elections.”
In relation to the Premier’s claim of unsupported projects by the VIP, Hon. Fraser stated, “The Premier is living a life of what if.”
“Premier where were you when Scrub Island was under construction, where were you when Scrub Island opened its doors, and where were you when the first negotiations started on Scrub Island?. And the same applies to Oil Nut Bay,” Hon. Fraser questioned.
“You are sounding and looking like the dad who was never around to see the child grow up but is forever present to claim credit for its successes,” Hon. Fraser said.
He added, “As for the some in the community who said you were trying to move the country too fast, they were the people who took the [Beef Island Development Project] matter to court, and won. It would be nice if the Premier would say it as it was.”
Hon. Fraser also refuted a claim by the Premier that, “a host of contracts were given out with no moneys to pay for them in the last days of the past administration.”
“Premier, the only money that was spent was spent on the Hospital.” Hon. Fraser asserted. “The hospital with a legitimate cost of close to $120 million was contracted out for $65 million, with only $30 million in loans secured. Naturally the only option the VIP government had was to take the money, $35 million from the consolidated Fund (Treasury) to pay the contractor, but that is the position you placed the incoming Administration into,” he added.
According to Hon. Fraser, “The Contracts I referred to in my meeting all have been released by the Ministry of Finance and were issued Purchase Orders, so I don't know what the Premier is talking about when he says they were given to persons without regards to how they would be paid.”
“As far as I knew,” he stated, “no Purchase Order was issued unless it was released by the Ministry of Finance, which was only after the funds (cash) were identified.”
“No one can believe the Premier given his government's practice of liberal spending,” Hon. Fraser said in response to the Premier's claims that VIP issued contracts have become a serious liability. “I can assure you Mr. Premier that not one of the contracts of which I speak, is greater than either of the first two consultancy contracts you gave out upon taking office.”
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30 Responses to “Hon. Fraser lashes back at Premier’s claims”
Neither one of the 2 gangs have realized the reality that they are the reasons why Virgin Islanders are outnumbered here as we leave due to their political incompetance their greed and corruption destroys our home & culture.
and why we will never move forward with such backward thinking ideals
The Petty Contract system is why we have no sewage completion, roads in a mess, walls falling down and the place looking like a pig sty! Petty contract my @$$. It has been a complete waste of time and money. A set of people milking the Government and giving nothing in return. Look at the schools, look at the roads and all over this place it looks like a 3rd world nation in poverty. The petty contract system can work but not in the current form. This thing about just giving people a job 'just because' is foolishness. Nobody should get a construction trade license unless they are qualified to do so. Nobody can get a license from Trade or FSC to conduct financial services unless they have the requisite qualification. Same with other industries so why it seems like in construction once you from here you can get a license and a contract to build a road and wall when you have no clue what you are doing? that does not make sense. Construction contracts should be awarded to professionals ONLY. if people want to understudy and learn then fine. But a clueless local shouldn't be getting $90,000 contracts to muckup the place.
OJ will get the biggest cut @$$ of his life next time around..we will win by 265 votes mark my words