Withers Law Firm told to ‘hold’ on response to VI CoI report - Premier Wheatley
Dr Wheatley made the statements in response to Opposition Member, Hon Carvin Malone (AL) during the Question and Answer segment of today’s July 21, 2022, Sixth Sitting of the Fourth Session of the Fourth House of Assembly at Save the Seed Energy Centre in Duff's Bottom.
Written report could be prepared - Hon Malone
Hon Malone asked whether a parallel report has been created and the Premier responded that a parallel report was not stated in the Terms of Reference of the Legal representation by Withers; however, a response to the CoI report could be prepared by the law firm.
“However, after the publication of the report and the subsequent negotiations with the UK Government and our agreement to implement the reforms, we decided to hold on this written response but Withers stands ready to move forward once instructed,” he said.
Hon Malone revealed that after large sums of money were spent for good legal defence and for what would have been a detailed repose to the COI report, “it is akin to going to court and you said it was such a well-defined case submitted, that you have no defence,” he said.
The Opposition Member further asked if the VI would not benefit from the written CoI response as prepared by Withers for historical reasons.
Dr the Hon Wheatley reiterated that while a parallel report was not required, the report indeed is on hold, however, he said total of $6,939,320.43 was expended for legal defence under the Withers law firm contract.
$8M total budgeted
Hon Whealtey said with a total budget of $8M for the legal defence, the written response will cost over $1M to receive, which he hinted would be unnecessary since his Government of National Unity has already agreed to implement the findings of the CoI Report and the money could be used for other developmental reasons, like building schools.
Hon Malone said for historical reasons, the Premier’s reasoning bears no relevance as it relates to the opportunity cost of the money not spent on the written report.
He said the ‘real’ written CoI Report warrants a response as concerns still loom.
Hon Malone added that after spending millions on legal defence already, “If we want to debate whether or not money was misspent that could have gone to schools...we could have that. But we can’t stop here with this $1M, so I would rather not go there.”
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12 Responses to “Withers Law Firm told to ‘hold’ on response to VI CoI report - Premier Wheatley”
Dumb move Natalio. This decision wreaks of ghe UK puppetry over you. Withers should bring a secpnd viewpoint for the people. Cant wait to vote your @## out.