Can BVI politicians really be held accountable?

Questions have been raised over whether elected officials in the BVI can ever truly be held accountable without laws explicitly designed for achieving this purpose.

Panellists at a recent constitutional forum discussed the next steps following the recent constitutional review exercise and explored the issue in detail.

The review process resulted in multiple recommendations for the next constitution. However, some critics argue that recommendations accepted from a previous constitution review process have not been implemented nearly two decades later.

Former House Speaker, Ingrid Moses Scatliffe, suggested that residents should look to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) — an arm of the legislative body that helps to scrutinise government spending.

Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton was announced as Chairman of the PAC late last year after months of delay in forming the body, while opposition members Stacey ‘Buddha’ Mather, Julian Fraser, Marlon Penn, Myron Walwyn and Melvin Turnbull were named as the other members of the PAC. 

Meanwhile, Coy Levons, one of the members of the Constitutional Reform Committee said the Integrity Commission, another watchdog body can be used to hold the government to account.

“We have to get the systems in place or the mechanisms in place,” Levons explained. “We don’t have them in place. So right now we’re operating a regime in which we don’t really have anything to hold them accountable and in an environment where individuals are uneducated. That’s a recipe for disaster.”

Another Commissioner, Dr Melvin Turnbull, argued that the issue of accountability in government is tied to elections until reform can be implemented.

“The sad thing with the populace is that we seem to think that our function stops once we have cast the vote,” Turnbull argued. “No, that’s when it really begins. You gotta stay in touch with your representative. Use whatever it takes to get his or her attention. Use whatever it takes to make sure that they are doing what you ask them to do until the reform takes place.”

He encouraged people to stay involved, saying it is wrong to think your voice doesn’t count, even when there is no system to keep elected officials in check.

“We don’t have the mechanisms other than what we have. So, we have to use what we have until we get what we want,” Dr Turnbull suggested.

During the forum, Dr Turnbull dismissed concerns about corruption that have plagued the BVI and argued that they should not be used to suggest the BVI cannot govern itself.