BVI wouldn’t have had any COI with NDP — Dr Pickering
Former Deputy Premier Dr Kedrick Pickering has suggested that there would have been no Commission of Inquiry (COI) held for the territory if the National Democratic Party (NDP) had remained in government after 2019.
Last year’s damning COI report concluded, among other things, that successive BVI governments have routinely ignored good governance and the rule of law over the years.
During a recent NDP political rally, Dr Pickering said it can be agreed, regardless of which political party persons support, that the territory is currently in a difficult position but had been ‘on the move’ when the NDP had been in office in the eight years between 2011 and 2019.
“Everybody could agree that, apart from the fact that the National Democratic Party created its own problems for itself and split up, had it stayed together [and] stayed focused, we’d still be running this country, we won’t have had no COI,” Dr Pickering said.
“I think we could agree on that, no matter what; all the noise you might hear, the country was doing well under the National Democratic Party,” Dr Pickering insisted.
Dr Pickering spoke about major issues affecting the territory such as climate change and said the BVI needs competent representation on the international stage.
The territory, according to the former Deputy Premier, needs to have a government that will fight in the areas which need such representation and he said his party offers a team of persons capable of such a fight.
“These things are not just something happening that happens willy-nilly,” he added. “We had a leader in Dr [D Orlando] Smith that, when he travelled, his presence in the room spoke volumes and people used to want to know, ‘what’s happening?’ You know, people were anxious to get to know more about the BVI.”
Dr Pickering said his NDP was not about fighting with anybody or about mudslinging. “We are here to provide opportunities and ideas for the long term and to make this country better for all of us,” he said.
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Doc, I am pretty sure that is not an accurate statement! Your Government, as much as you (and others) would like to believe otherwise, were no set of Saints either!
Don’t put Doc office He can be a paid advisor!
Yes we would! NDP was no different. Don’t forget the airline money to name a few.
thiss is whats annoying, Elections are coming down to the wire and yal still here with the coulda woulda shouldaz of the pass instead of focusing on moving us forward! grow up
The COI highlighted and dealt with (apart from the recommendation to suspend the constitution that Gus wanted but the UK Government rejected) many issues that existed under the VIP and the NDP – but was careful not to blame the Governors under whose watch it all happened.
The reforms that follow from the CoI will make the BVI better.
In particular, the NDP approach of making new policy that conflicts with legislation was held to be unlawful – eg residence and belongership but not just those.
Is Dr Pickering saying that he preferred the old approach – where Cabinet and the Public Service thought it was above the law. He has just lost my vote!
You make a very good point, but, under NDP we did not have a circa 1,300 Belonger / Residency application backlog. Same crime, different packaging perhaps.
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – A former developer of the cruise pier development project Hugh Edison Darley, President of IDEA Inc., has accused the National Democratic Party (NDP) of perverting the process of the project’s development and causing it to balloon far beyond what it would have cost originally to build.
NDP at a point near shortly near or after the completion of the Pier Park claimed to investigate thingsike the massive 40,million over-run claimed to have looked ito it but quit with the reasons being that soe of thefolks involved had already moved or or couldn’t be found. Free Money
THE VOTERS DID THE COI ON THE NDP LAST ELECTION
This man need to go sit dung. That’s a pompous thing to say. NDP VIP and any other p only use the same playbook. They aren’t that fundamentally different from VIP. If we were in a plane, one of them gets you to crash into the ground faster than the other
I agree with you. There are two groups that let these decades of elected Government to do what they will. Policy over law, and those that were elected, above the law.
First group is the Countless Governors that sat in Cabinet meetings and allowed such things to happen without a care, and without a word spoken to the Public as to what was going on. It is this set of Governors that allowed this all to happen as they enjoyed their last post before retirement.
The second group is us, the people of the BVI. We too saw what was happening and allowed it to continue, even though we all knew that the decisions we made were always based on self-interest, rather than for our Country as a whole!
To date, I have yet to and real substance from any person running to be elected regarding a vision for any and all aspects of our Country’s future.
VIP and NDP are two sides of the same coin.
1. You know why.
2. if that is the case why you all had to take the stand as well?
3. Most of the major atrocities talked of at the COI was from you all admin…
Please give it a break already!
Ooh cone on Kedrick Pickering!! Who, just who are you trying to fool and Mamaguy here? You need to be quiet and stuff that Mike down your dam throat for l**ng so d*m much.
This man has any shame? Do NDP supporters have ANY SHAME? Kedrick along with Ronnie and Mitch left the NDP because they didn’t want Myron as the Premier. Ronnie and Mitch refused to reunite the party for the betterment of the Territory, because of power and hatred. Here they are telling you that the VIP are the worst for the Territory but VIP are the only ones that respect the voting population by fielding a full slate of candidates. How can you have districts uncontested and telling the people that you are for the betterment of the Territory? If the VIP is so bad why PVIM and NDP struggled to field candidates and Julian Fraser couldn’t even find one single person to join him? The fact is that if Kedrick and friends did not destroy the NDP, the VIP Government would have never been elected and we wouldn’t be here. The fact that NDP supporters are willing to give Dr. Pickering a pass on this while throwing stones at others is totally beyond me.
“BVI WOLDN’T HAVE HAD ANY VIP GOVERNMENT IF KEDRICK AND FRIENDS DIDN’T DESTROY THE NDP OVER POWER AND HATRED!!”
These are the facts, do not make up your own Dr. Pickering. We are NOT voting for you, go sit the f**k down.
I have come to the conclusion that this man has absolutely no shame and misses the power that having Honorable before his name brings. He will do anything to feel important and powerful again which is absolutely shameful.
“… there would have been no Commission of Inquiry (COI) held for the territory if the National Democratic Party (NDP) had remained in government after 2019.”
Sure… Right.
You are really something else and have done so much to disenfranchise BVIslanders. How do you sleep at night Don’t your conscience bother you?
Is this man serious? The NDP and the VIP are to blame for the CoI. None are better than the other with the exception of the Premiers. Dr. D.O. S.ith have more integrity. Head coach should rot in prison for the shame and embarrassment he brought on the BVI. All the bad things he were doing including wasting tax payers and social security/the people money giving it away to supposed farmers and fishermen. My fear is that power is the only motive for this guy wanted to be re-elected. What about the seabed right he gave to oil nut bay for the dock at YCCS? He was he min of Natural Resources. He and his friend who is a big one at oil nut bay, the former PS is the Premier’s Office but had their hands in ensuring the sea bed right was given to the man for oil nut bay. People, don’t be stupid, he caused much damage when he was the minister of natural resources. I for one and none in my family voting for him.
Kedrick has sign off on Properties – given rights to his white business friends and left us out! He has down this before!!!Leave Kedrick alone people. He can have the option of being an advisor for Country . Lorna got things down overseas for the BVI without being Elected in office!!!
A vote for NDP and Kedrick is a vote for BVIslander disenfranchisement. They do not care about locals. Kedrick is being dragged back into politics to continue to favor his rich white friends that he bragged about. Keep NDP out of the HOA, they are not good for the BVI.
Kedrick give me a break. Stop trying to run from the NDP share of the COI. If you cannot deal with that, you should not have rejoined the party. Best you talk about something else.
On Election Day once and for all we will teach you a lessión!!!!!!
Well, its true to the extent that the head coach is the one who was lobbying hard for a COI. Nobody else asked.
The Premier and you all were totally lost after Irma. You all realized there was no money in the Parler with the King. Spent the whole lot on stupid jaunts to Europe for global warming. Like we needed to worry about that. Stole all our tax money you did!
So Dr Pickering why did DR Smith, Mark, Myron, Marlon and even you appeared before the COI. Everybody but Sheep failed to declare their interest by the deadline. The NDP was the government that made the law and they all failed to comply even though they were reminded many times. The plane, pier park dilemma, High School wall were all subjects of the COI.
We need to hear and see a list of Pickering’s accomplishments and his vision, reforms, ideas and policies for the future. Not just a blame game for everyone else.
and now delusional candidate preaching to his empty church. His meltdown will come on polling day.
I guess there was nothing shady about pier park project or bvi airways