Doug Wheatley felt that Britain got what they wanted in the signing of the Financial Protocols agreement with the Virgin Islands, without firing a shot. Photo:VINO

Members of the panel at the meeting held at the Cane Garden Bay community centre (L-R) Douglas Wheatley, Glenroy Forbes and Vernon Malone along with 2nd District Representative Hon. J. Alvin Christopher (extreme right). Photo: VINO

Secon District residents and other concerned persons in attendance at the community meeting. Photo:VINO

The meeting, which took place at the Cane Garden Bay Community Centre, featured a panel comprising Douglas Wheatley, a former Deputy Financial Secretary; former Financial Secretary and Attorney-at-Law, Glenroy Forbes; and Mr. Vernon E. Malone, an Attorney-at-Law and former At-Large Representative.

Panelist, Douglas Wheatley, explained that the protocols emerged as a result of a pattern of behaviour that occurred “over many, many years.”

“We had huge inflows of money from financial services,” Wheatley explained, “and because we had the inflows, we didn't look at the finer points of governance and the fact that we should get value for money.”

He added that the VI should have been much more disciplined in its approach to finances in the Territory.

Wheatley expressed that the VI had arrived at a point where the UK government had to intervene, a situation which was not unique to the VI, but rather with all the Overseas Territories (OTs) in an effort to encourage fiscal responsibility.

The genesis of the issue, Wheatley explained, seemed to have come from a decision concerning whether or not the budget should be sent to the UK.

Wheatley felt that instead of the budget going to the UK, Government was trying to make an arrangement with the British government by telling them that the VI was now prepared “face the music” and to “run our government in a proper manner with transparency, accountability… and out of this, we got this protocol.” In essence, he agreed that, “Britain got more than they wanted without firing a shot.”

Mr. Glenroy Forbes elaborated on some of the terms in the financial document in an attempt to add clarity for the members of the community that attended.

He explained that the document provided an outline of the mode of interaction for the protocols between the VI and the UK in the areas of financial management, medium term planning in fiscal decisions, and efficiency in terms of value for money in addition to accountability.

Forbes further related that the document defined that there was now a limit to what the VI could borrow.

He explained that, “When the government completes its budget, you need to have in reserve, or saved, untouched, unencumbered, unallocated, 25 per cent of your recurrent budget.”

Attorney-at-law, Vernon Malone said the protocols were close to a constitution and suggested that adequate appraisals needed to be conducted.

The document, he added, prevented the government from engaging in projects before conducting a proper cost/benefit analysis, regardless of the size of the project.

Responding to a question from a resident of the community related to the cost for technical support staff and resources for the protocols, Wheatley said the British government had stated in the document and also the White Paper that they were prepared to send technical assistance where the VI fell short in sourcing requisite persons.

He added that he wasn't envious of persons in the financial department noting that “it’s not going to be an easy road at all”.

Wheatley felt that it would take a lot of hard work for the VI to be in full compliance with the requirements of the document by 2015.
The protocols were signed between the Government of the Virgin Islands (VI) and the United Kingdom (UK) on April 23, 2012.