Premier’s hands were empty! – Hon. Fraser
Hon. Fraser expressed these sentiments at a community meeting in the third district on November 10, 2012.
He noted that one Minister went as far as to say that Premier Smith had the former UK Minister for Overseas Territories (OTs) Henry Bellingham MP, eating out of the palm of his hands; at this point the Third District Representative said maybe [the Premier’s] hands were empty.
“If [Bellingham] was eating out of the palm of [Premier Smith’s] hands and ended up winning,” he said, “something is wrong.”
“What this government ended up signing is nothing but a noose that is going to choke this Territory… I hope not to death before somebody wakes up and decides that they have to go back to the United Kingdom to ask for further consideration.”
Taken for a ride
The former Minister for Communications and Works felt that the NDP government refuses to admit that they were "taken for a ride", constantly telling the people that they were clever and crafty in being able to negotiate a deal with the UK.
Hon. Fraser then proceeded to read a letter sent by Hon. Bellingham that responded to a request made by the previous administration for the recently approved CDB loan of $15.672M.
The response indicated an agreement for approval of the loan on the conditions that ‘the BVI government adopt a rigorous action plan to implement improvement recommended in the economic update report [sent in March 2011]’ and secondly a request that discussions on the Framework for Fiscal Responsibility (now referred to as the Protocols for Effective Financial Management) be brought to a rapid and satisfactory conclusion.
Hon. Fraser believed, after reading the letter, that Hon. Bellingham “held that CDB $15.672m loan hostage” and the ransom was [the signing of] the protocols. The Third District Representative said that the Premier “signed that protocol to get that $15.672m (loan approved) without giving due thought to what the protocols were going to do to this Territory.”
Suggesting a basis for his conclusion, Hon. Fraser said that the Premier expressed that he "was so overjoyed by this news and give God thanks for his blessings" when he got the news that the loan was approved.” “This is the same man,” he reasoned “that stood up in the House of Assembly and argued against it, he voted against it… your back is against the wall and that’s what happens,” Hon. Fraser said.
The Third District Representative also noted that the previous view was that the OTs would go to the UK to discuss the protocols with Bellingham. He explained that the previous administration had the same document and could have signed it a long time ago, “but it was not to our satisfaction, we could not agree with it… don’t be fooled, have them come here and tell you that they negotiated this wonderful deal.”
Not a thin dime received from the UK
Hon. Fraser further revealed that he took strong exception to the Territory as a democracy being spoken to by the British government in the terms expressed in the protocols. He said granted, the VI is a territory, unlike the USVI which receives millions in subsidies from the United States government annually, “….we don’t get a thin dime from the United Kingdom, not a thin dime… all the money that we spend in this Territory comes out of the treasury.”
He said that only banks laid out such terms about how to spend the money that was being borrowed from them. “The United Kingdom is ‘responsible’ for any default that we should have if we should borrow any money and default, but when had this ever happened?” He said that countries around the Caribbean that took loans and couldn't pay, had their debts written off.
He also noted that there were new elements added to the document (protocols) and suspected that it may have been as a result of the Cayman Islands encountering financial difficulties. “One size cannot fit all,” Hon. Fraser added. “Judge me by my actions, not by someone else’s action…”
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21 Responses to “Premier’s hands were empty! – Hon. Fraser ”
You NDP people can't see but you will feel. At least Bush got balls by standing to the British, even if he loose his people will respect he.