VI made ‘big mistake’ in not accepting UK loan guarantee- Dr Pickering
Dr Pickering made the statements while a guest on the Monday, February 6, 2023, edition of the Umoja radio show hosted by Cromwell Smith aka Ed Ju Enka on ZBVI 780AM.
VI should have taken guarantee - Dr Pickering
“One of the big mistakes we made was not taking that loan guarantee from the United Kingdom, because that loan guarantee is money we couldn't spend over 20 years. It would have taken us a few years to spend that money,” he said while admitting that he has said it privately.
While the loan guarantee was initially offered under the then Dr D. Orlando Smith's National Democratic Party (NDP) government, of which Dr Pickering was a part of, and inherited by the then Andrew A. Fahie's Virgin Islands Party (VIP) administration,Mr Fahie was skeptical about taking up the loan over its stipulations.
The former Deputy Premier and At Large Candidate for the 2023 General Election said the VI did not need to borrow amounts that would interfere with the threshold as set out in the Protocols for Effective Financial Management and could have also negotiated some of the terms.
The VI government under Mr Fahie had tried unsuccessfully to get the UK to increase the borrowing threshold to allow the VI to borrow significant amounts without violating the protocols.
According to Dr Pickering, “You get what you negotiate and that's what negotiations are about, real people sitting with real people and having discussions. So I can tell you what I want and you can tell me what you want, and there has to be a middle… negotiations can only be successful if both parties win,” he added.
Dr Pickering posited that had the VI taken up the offer, it would have given the territory the opportunity to take a comprehensive look at its local infrastructure and come up with a strategy to fix it, given the available access to financing would have been there.
“One of the mistakes was that we didn't need 400 million [dollars] in our pocket, we didn't need 400 [million dollars] in our bank account. It was saying to you that we will guarantee you up to this amount, if it becomes necessary. So if we could only spend $50 million a year, we would take that $50 million based on what we negotiate for that $50 million.”
RDA was condition of loan guarantee - Dr Pickering
Dr Pickering added that one of the first conditions for the loan guarantee was the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), which was an agency that is set up by law. He added that the establishment of that agency created part of the infrastructure that was necessary to be able to get to the negotiating table.
“We don't have the money, and the chances are we won't have the money in the foreseeable future. What are we going to do? Sit back and watch infrastructure get worse and our quality of life continue to degenerate because we don't have the money?”
He said while the VI has no funds, Government can find a mechanism of accessing the money to do the work which will improve our quality of life and in turn, this improves local investment opportunities both locally and regionally.
“The loan guarantee was something that the United Kingdom government was allowing us to have access to, we then were going to be the final arbiters in determining what we are going to use and how we are going to use it,” he said.
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37 Responses to “VI made ‘big mistake’ in not accepting UK loan guarantee- Dr Pickering”
the united kingdom sent assistance to us after the hurricane and the then administration refused
memories don’t leave like people do: someone pinch the doctor
After 20 years of doing nothing he up and down talking sh**
Accept the loan and it would take how much years to spend??? And do you think the UK would have waited until the money was spent before it had to be repaid? I guess y’all would have negotiated the same way the airline was negotiated and the same way the pier park overruns were negotiated and the same way the hospital overruns were negotiated! Miss me with that. Stick to medicine.
Many guilty persons have and are casting stones (bad-mouthing) Dr. Kedrick Pickering on the proposed RDA loan offered, but who as yet to prove his position on the issue wrong? I know of no one has, so far.
A house divided cannot stand as one, no more can the BVI.
The UK is not our greatest enemy. The hate in our mind against one and others is, because of the lust for materials things, spoil.
you are so lost! Uk was not loaning us any money. We had to go seek the loan on our own strength. Uk was only banking the loan if we were able to secure the loan thus putting us in debt.
Uk was holding upwards of over 50 Billion pounds in relief funds to use for itself and territories under its umbrellas. The UK could have easily giving us the money and have the RDA regulate it if they were concerned about how it would be spent. The USA gave money to the USVI and Puerto Rico after they were hit with the same hurricane's.
Let me be clear the USA did not offer a loan guarantee they gave USVI and Puerto Rico the money to rebuild, the UK choose not to, what did they choose to do instead offer to help put our country and its people in debt!!!
Please sell that UK as a savior by offering us a loan guarantee (aka helping us to go into debt) story to someone who does not have any common sense cause we not buying that!
So they can’t come up with nothing of good worth to tax the people of vi
So they had no choice than to take a pass