Another set of controversial documents missing! Premier claims TPP files ‘vanished’
Premier Andrew Fahie has said files for the controversial Tortola Pier Park project have mysteriously gone missing — a problem he believes Mark Vanterpool could assist with if he is sworn into the House of Assembly.
Vanterpool was the minister responsible for the project when the NDP was the governing party.
“I welcome the presence of Mr Vanterpool in the House of Assembly as I believe there are a number of distressing issues with which he is ideally equipped to assist the territory as a minister of the immediate past administration,” the Premier said.
“One such issue is the accounting for tens of millions of dollars sunk into the Pier Park project for which the paperwork has conveniently vanished,” he added.
Premier Fahie made the statement on Sunday while announcing his appeal to Speaker of the House, Julian Willock, to swear in Vanterpool as the Fourth District Representative at the next sitting of parliament.
READ: Why Vanterpool has not been sworn in
More about the Pier Project
The Vanterpool-led pier project was initially announced to cost $50 million. However, the amount of money spent on the entire project stands at $82.9 million, which reflects a cost overrun of more than $30 million.
Last year, while still serving as Works Minister, Vanterpool insisted that the project did not have a cost overrun. He said the initial $50 million estimate was an ‘incomplete assessment’.
He described the final project estimate as “fair for the development of this project”.
BVI Airways file deleted too
Meanwhile, files for the pier project is the second set of documents that Premier Fahie claimed has vanished since the end of the NDP’s tenure as government in February.
The first was those of the BVI Airways, a claim that the former Premier Dr D Orlando Smith has denied.
BVI Airways received $7.2 million from the former NDP government to commence direct flights between the BVI and Miami in the USA. However, the airline later laid off its staff, claiming that it needed more money to fly.
The funds have not been recouped nor has the promised flights commenced.
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I don’t care who gets angry but the governor should have investigated that Ports project. It still needs investigating.
Imagine we youth man go jail for a little weed but the ndp them gone free with our seven million dollars for a plane that we do not have and gone free as a bird with over spending by forty million dollars on the cruise ship dock project. This is what does get the youth them angry.
If we going start throwing people in jail for misuse of government funds, lets start with the VIP, RIP Cookie monster, the member for the 3rd, the member for the 1st, the member for the 1st current de facto PS…..You were angry then? what did you do? vote them out…..what have you done now, vote them back in….you going hear about the no bid 6 million dollar post office post box renovations just now…you want to go on?
Let’s
While Mark was the Minister in charge of the pier park, was he signing the checks? who was? oh yes, the current de facto PS!
These missing documents would have done more to incriminate him than Mark……
So the missing files protecting who?
Mark got to answer? maybe since he was ultimate Boss but CSC got to answer to. He answer yet?
What is this lame duck governor doing? What is the police doing? What is the director of public prosecutions doing? All the millions missing under that last government is going to be left alone? Why? This is ridiculous.
We need Duncan.
In my book Mark have alot to answer in terms of the millioms of dollars of our tax money.
Mark is in the opposition to ask questions…Not to answer them
I am sorry but I know Andrew Fahie way too well to believe a word he says. Our Premier has the same problem as Donald Trump who l**s for every conceivable thing. We are in major trouble in our home.
Andrew is not the problem here so just stop ir. The problem is this project has always been tagged for possible wrong doings and the police, Governor and Dpp all trying to avoid going after their friends in the ndp.
Wait for it…the ndp bloggers going to come on bashing Fahie to take the spot light off of thier corrupt ndp.
That corrupt NDP had CSC in it……
The current government has CSC in it, in a much higher influencing position too….
by virtue of your reasoning, i guess the VIP is corrupt then.
Have an original thought before you repeat drivel!
It is simple this project needs a full criminal investigation.
I am getting pretty skeptical about these stories. These are not paper records – they are electronic records. If they really were all deleted, then a forensic analysis of the Government computers would show this very quickly.
I find it *very* difficult to believe that after getting voted out of office all the Ministers came back in, arranged for civil servants to delete all the records, and nobody said a word about this to the new incoming Government.
It feels like people are playing politics with this. But if he really believes that people deleted the records, then let’s see some criminal charges. Put up or shut up. You are accusing people of committing serious crimes here – destroying important Government records.
Is he just saying them files disappeared so he has an excuse for not investigating the missing $7.2? There are people who know what happened. Why don’t we have the whistleblower law he promised us? That might solve the case of the missing $7.2!
Claude Cline was the managing director of the port and oversaw the pier project and was involved more than anyone else. Claude is now Fahie’s mouthpiece and chief adviser. Do you all really think Fahie will go beyond just talking and investigate the pier park which would tie up his right hand man? When will start to see things? What’s wrong with us? We are being duped people! We blind?
The premier hired Cline with full knowledge of the accusations that were made against Cline. Fahie is just puffing smoke right now.
If you want to be rich in the bvi illegally just do a few things:
1) Join the ndp
2) Become friends with the authorities
3) Drink all day with prosecutors
4) Share the loot with all who could stop you from enjoying it.
5) Shift the focus from you by always blaming the actions of the now premier.
It is that simple.
Oh how we forget the 6 million green house under VIP and the neighborhood watch for $700,000.00 that saw some institute being promised $5000.00 per annum to participate and seen only $1000.00 or none. Let’s address all admin questionable doing. Let’s address the VIP questionable spending also!!
where is the queen’s representatives in these issues namely the commissioner or governor because man going jail on the regular for dime bags: here we have allegations of criminal conduct within a previous government administration and not one member of that former administration is being held accountable: just before 25 February 2019 but gossip how police investigating wall project: we talking millions and millions such conduct in the private sector is called embezzlement
So you mean to tell me that the Premier can’t get the IT department to recover those files?
Hahahhah hahahhah just now you will see not million missing but billions so keep talking jokers be still and know that my God is still God.
So you hire the Director that oversaw that corrupt project as your key adviser? What am I missing here?
If Andrew wants the files he has the man hired to be his adviser who can provide him with everything he needs.
This is just politics as usual. First 6 months or so of every “new” administration is spent saying what is missing, who teaf what from where, etal. After a while everything stops and we all move on. Nothing happened, no one sanctioned, sent to jail even worse. Whether NDP, VIP, PPP, whatever they call themselves they are all “boys” together. Everything is swept under the political carpet and everybody happy. NDP had their time to do as they pleased. This is the VIP time. Different players, same game. Get over it and move on.
the man who teaching the bass should be the first 1 to jail but no he give him a job so he need to his thing right as far I see 4 yrs more of problems
Governor needs to go. The dpp needs to go. The commissioner of police I will give a chance because he works. The others allowed wrong doings and sheltered the ndp wrong doers to this day.
. “He said the initial $50 million estimate was an ‘incomplete assessment’.?
And your advisor, CSC, said the same thing and should know cause he personally managed the project. Professional valuators valued the project way above the cost anyways. So what’s the prob???? As a member of Her Majesty’s Opposition would Mark be any more liable to answer your questions than he is as an un-sworn-in elected member? Come on??? In any case the files ( if in fact deleted) could have been deleted last week. What would Mark know about that?
You can tell that you are a propaganda machine because you have made up your own facts. Mark knows alot so don’t go there.
You apparently know all, because you were there.
so why dont you tell us?
if he is spinning propaganda, what are you spinning? alternative facts?….facts being the operative word.
The police & governor & DPP need to stop playing politics and go do their work and investigate the plane, pier project and Tpp
Is this news new? I remember the audit was inconclusive because of missing documents
It’s how things work in a Banana Republic. Tons of money coming in from Offshore Business fees and tourism. Most of the money going towards current expenses… civil service wages, pensions, building rents etc. Then there’s that allotted for capital projects like TPP, greenhouses, roads, schools, airlines etc and that gets shelled out sometimes with no tendering, no accountability, no audits – just money GONE. I thought Deloite and Touche were supposed to be doing government audits. But nothing but silence – the people in the dark.
You are most intelligent person blogging right now. The others noted some common sense or street sense.I am totally with you on thiis. The premier need to stop it and move on with the country business. What is done is already done, stop keep building grievances among our people.
To the fools or people with Agendas against Fahie please remember that the NDP did an “audit” on the Pier Park. Technically it did not fit the criteria of an audit but that was what it was labelled by the government.
The findings of the “audit” determined that the Ports Authority broke the rules the majority of the time when awarding contracts.
KPMG who NDP hired to do the audit failed to obtain many requested documents for the review. They went on to state that it “appears that there was no standard document management system in place in respect of the [project], and the general document retention practices by the BVIPA may not be fit for purpose,” They claimed that there were many gaps in the information that was provided.
That was KPMG’s assessment but who really knows if there was no document retention practices as all legal business have some kind of data management/filing system. It may have been a deliberate attempt to conceal certain information on the project.
Charterland Ltd. also did a report on the Pier project and also had the same problems obtaining information and was forced to fill in the blanks with estimates instead of accurate information that people in the former Ministry of Communications and Work should have available.
If you truly dont believe Fahie about the missing information at least believe the “audit” that our tax money paid for because the truth is there for those that really want to know.
The Premier continues to say the most obscene things without presenting one shred of evidence. Am I only one who has noticed this. Lets start at the beginning, will there not be an investigation into who threatened the Premier? Is this just said and we move on? why hasn’t the commissioner of police spoken on this or invited on Honestly speaking by Claude Cline since so he could ask him about it? Open your eyes people
CSC needs to be arrested and sent to prison
If all the people of the bvi is going to do is ask questions then nothing will change…..every 4 years you have a bunch of people playin inspector gadget but no 1 want to play executioner. So ayo keep on asking questions and see where that get you. The police act on instruction given by the same people yall dont trust, so why yall keep asking about what police doing….they following orders…..
YOU ARGUE ON THE INTERNET LIKE STRUPE CHILDREN AND WONDER WHY NOTHING GETS BETTER.
GET OFF YOUR BUTTS AND DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF TO MAKE BVI BETTER INSTEAD OF AALLWWAAYYSS WHINING AND POINTING FINGERS
GROW UP STRUPES
Conspiracy theory; As soon as CSC started his new job all the “files” have gone missing…