Public needs to know: Has VI lost control of its treasury?
In the House of Assembly recently, 2nd District Representative Hon. Alvin Christopher had called for a debate on the protocols and now again, there are calls for public discussions so that the general public can understand in layman terms what the signing of the documents means for the VI and its future.
Former political candidate with the People’s Patriotic Alliance Natalio Wheatley aka Sowande Uhuru said while he supports the principles that both the UK and Virgin Islands government commits itself within the Protocols for Effective Financial Management, he believes the signing of the document represents a serious loss of autonomy for the Virgin Islands and in his opinion, the VI has nearly loss complete control over its treasury.
“A lot was made about not having to send the budget to London, but these protocols actually mandate a much greater scrutiny of the government treasury,” Wheatley charged.
According to the outspoken young political figure, he said “it would appear that the hoopla surrounding the announcement that we did not have to send the budget to England was a political charade to obscure the coup d'etat that was taking place.”
“This is not an agreement that represents a partnership, but a reversal of the hard fought gains our ancestors won over a long protracted struggle for autonomy. In this modern era, the UK should be encouraging a more mature relationship rather than winding back the clock to the colonial era.”
Wheatley outlined that according to the protocols, the government must develop and publish a Medium Term Fiscal Plan (MTFP), "covering a period of at least three fiscal years" according to Section 9 of the document.
Giving an overview on sections of the document and his conclusion, Wheatley said “the protocols state that ‘this MTFP will be used as the primary guide for fiscal and economic management by the Government of the Virgin Islands (Section 9)’. The document goes on to say that ‘all proposed capital projects will be incorporated in the published MTFP’ (16). The MTFP must be sent to the UK two months before it is to be published (Annex C). In addition to this, the UK can basically demand any information they want from the Virgin Islands at any time (Annex C).”
Added to that, he said the document makes it very clear that the UK will "undertake an annual assessment of the economy of the Virgin Islands, including the state of the public finances", which is according to Section 22a; and "monitor compliance with the protocols...” according to Section 22b.
In regards to the exchange of information and its consideration, he pointed out, "...the Government of the Virgin Islands commits to supply the Government of the United Kingdom with available information on fiscal, economic or project appraisal matters..."(Section 23) and "the Government of the Virgin Islands will consider fully any representations made by the Secretary of State on information provided"(24).
Another interesting aspect of the document, according to Wheatley is that breaching any aspect of the principles enshrined in the document or the rigid financial guidelines regarding borrowing and other matters constitutes a breach of the entire document, which is taken very seriously. It states, "until the breach has been rectified, the Government of the Virgin Islands will obtain, on an annual basis, written approval from the Secretary of State before: the MTFP is finalised; or any new public borrowing is undertaken; or proceeding with any new project with a lifetime value of more than five percent of forecast recurrent revenue...etc"(27).
Public understanding and discussion needed
According to First District Representative Hon. Andrew Fahie, what was signed is what we need to make sure that we understand and said he is amazed that many persons are not asking what was signed.
“We were told through the marketing arm of the government that the budget does not have to go to the UK, because they were able to negotiate these protocols and the atmosphere that it created is one of joy in most quarters at least so it seems that these protocols were signed and the budget does not have to go to the UK.”
Hon. Fahie said he feels it is something that would have need to be fully discussed so that that the people of the Territory can understand what was signed because in a nutshell, what was signed will significantly change the landscape of this territory for years to come in terms of, the way government goes about especially development projects among other matters. And it will have some impact, on the way of life in the Territory.
A copy of the signed protocols can be found here. PROTOCOLS FOR EFFECTIVE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
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