COI: System for HOA’s Register of Interests not working very well
A system currently in place for House of Assembly (HOA) members to report their financial interests has been described by the Commission of Inquiry (COI) as ‘not working very well’.
Sir Gary, the sole Commissioner in the ongoing COI, made the observation yesterday after a procession of lawmakers who appeared before him in the past two days expressed varying degrees of difficulty in filling out a form designed to be submitted as part of the Register of Interests requirements.
The Register of Interests is, effectively, a record kept of the financial interests of HOA members. Its purpose is to give them the mechanism to publicly declare any private interests which may conflict or may be perceived to conflict with their public duties.
“This doesn’t sound to me to be a system that is working very well in terms of governance,” Sir Gary said during a live-streamed hearing at which Works Minister Kye Rymer appeared.
No meetings of Standing Select Committee
At the time, Sir Gary was making specific reference to the HOA’s Standing Select Committee which is responsible for oversight of the Register of Interests.
Minister Rymer — a first-term legislator — told the COI that the Committee has never met since he was appointed to it after getting elected into office in 2019.
Premier Andrew Fahie reportedly heads the committee.
Sir Gary said Rymer, who once served briefly as the Deputy Premier, was laggardly in complying with any obligations to the HOA Register of Interests.
“You’ve been very slow in complying with any obligations and have been in substantial breach – nothing’s happened. This is not a system that’s working, is it?” Sir Gary asked during the hearing.
System can be improved
In response, Minister Rymer said he felt the system as an institution can be improved upon.
COI attorney, Bilal Rawat offered that the system could only be improved if legislators took their statutory obligations seriously. He said this did not appear to be the case on the issue of the Register of Interests for some of the legislators that appeared before the COI so far.
Several of the lawmakers expressed that there was some ambiguity for them when it came to the point of deciding what was meant by their ‘immediate family members’ — a term which appeared on various sections of the Registers of Interest form.
Even as the COI questioned whether the definition should include adult siblings or other close adult relatives, several of the lawmakers said they believed the term only applied to their spouses and children.
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Changes gonna come
I was born by the river
Is finally exposing how badly organised the BVI Government is. Not a surprise but still very sad to see that the elected officials can’t even follow basic instructions which they themselves approved!
Sir Gary Hickinbottom, Turn up the heat these guys think they can do what they want because they don’t have to answer to anyone, Happy you are hear doing this COI.
What country have all systems working well? This is colonialism and slavery all over again.
No country has all systems working well.
Very little countries have no systems working at all.
BVI is one of those countries with no systems working at all. Compliance and accountability has not got anything to do with colonialism. The fact that you are happy with your leaders to do with your money as they please says you have a certain backward mentality. Don’t blame the COI for that.
your new nickname is “Shampoo” … rinse and repeat!! Get a new line and come better next time.
So that means we should just follow suit and let our Government run this country to the ground cause other places have bad government also? We here in the BVI really don’t stand for anything sometimes. These ppl in government doing what they want with our money and some of you just seems to be okay with it instead of opening your eyes. We are so far behind for a territory that’s not a 3rd world country.
The COI is not independent and is a waste if time. Clearly they have a pre agenda.
You clearly haven’t watched any of it. It couldn’t be any fairer. You’re hearing of friction simply because ‘witnesses’ are struggling to answer the questions and provide the documents requested. If you truly cared about the BVI’s future, you’d realise that change needs to happen. The amount of money that is wasted could make for a far better BVI.
These people cannot complete a form, three years in a row but always have the most talk agains the UK. This is who we elected to represent the BVI. These are the people who we entrusted our economy, education etc. with. People who CANNOT complete a simple f**king form. When will we wake up? This is bigger than black and white and we need to stop playing around.
@ Imagine
You are so right. We are full speed on the move going f**king backwards.
Andrew Fahie and his administration are all behaving like schoolchildren out of control.
They want to discipline the government worker when they mess up, yet look how they are portraying themselves to the general public. Foolish, if you ask me. The same one who says ” put up or shut up” WOW
People of the BVI, WE NEED TO GET RID OF THIS GOVERNMENT BEFORE THEY KILL US. WE SIMPLY CANNOT DEAL WITH THEM ANYMORE. THEY HAVE TO GO. WE ARE THE LAUGHING STOCK EVERYWHERE. WE ARE LOOKING BAD AND SHAMEFUL. WE MAY AS WELL START WEARING CLOWN OUTFITS.
If R_we can’t wear a mask properly, then he shouldn’t wear it at all SMH
THE BRITS HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS KIND OF CHEAP SHENANIGANS BEFORE , SO THEY TESTING YOU ALL CREATIVITY IN COMPARISON TO THE OTHER JOKERS LIKE YOU WHO HAS TRIED THAT SAME ( MODUS OPERANDI) AND FAILED / SO FLEX YOUR MUSCLES NOW LIKE HOW YOU ALL ACCUSTOM TO DO ON THE EXPATS ?
Everyone who voted for these c/●wn$ need to watch the inquiry so they can see the c!rcu$ they helped to create.
These COI hearings are like a soap opera. I predict that the Speaker of the House, HOA, will show up on Friday, June 18, 2021 at 12:00 PM, or face criminal charges for failure to abide to a summon!
I am ashamed that all these aged people are giving the same reason for not completing The Form. Rawat asked and I paraphrased, why wasn’t there a team building, so new members could have learned the correct way to complete this from? (In school, students study together, so they all will benefit). Again, the world is watching how things are done here- aged politicians giving the same excuse year after year, and not one with the capacity to say let us work together on this form. In 2021, the forms were completed because they knew that the COI was coming. Before this year, documents were destroyed in Irma, documents were not important to keep copies, private secretary on vacation, etc. So, that should tell us that in HOA there is no teamwork or organizational skills among these people. They are there for their interest and not the interest of the BVI.
Blaze them. PUT THEM ON THE HOT SEAT, GRILL THEM.
They even can’t understand or fill out a form.
Is this corruption?! Seems petty in the grand scheme of things!
@YOUTH, You are a racist.
@Clearly, You said The COI is not independent and is a waste of time. Clearly they have a pre agenda as you put it, If they do I hope it would be for the UK to take us over for a year getting things in order, and then have an election, there is no way I will like to see this government back in power.
Clearly you must be one of those who helped capture your own people to see them sold off back there in motherland’s history.
Look, those elected may not have done many things right. If that is so, do we not have the capacity, mental and moral will and ability to make the changes we desire ourselves? Do we have to depend on a white man who don’t and never had and never will have our interest at heart?
Your frustration is understood, but your solution is problematic and fraught with danger, much danger.
THE COI and the people who tag comments up or down in organized group format all have one common thread, they are all obviously WHITE SUPREMIST by all indications.
Frightening to think what such eople will do in a few more years to fifty to a hundred years from now.
Black Virgin Islanders had better wake up yesterday.
@NKVD, hush ya mout.
You’re talking about people of all ages, races and nationalities who see our territory and see blazing corruption.
People like you try to deny it and pin the wickedness on whites alone is obviously not able to look deeper than that.
So: because I agree someone need to hold our representatives to account,I am now white supremacist?
Full. Of. It.
Of course, many “people of all ages, races and nationalities who see our territory and see blazing corruption,” but they also see the same at all levels and more chronic occuring the world, UK and US for example.
What they don’t see are a group and or bunch white supremist working diligently to subvert, undermine and destroy a government, that they wish to take over, control and use solely for their advantage.
Not to worry, much are historically astute, psychologically aware and socially in sync with the threads of media commentary and responses.
Last, it is a known fact that the racist and white people in general have a profound aversion to truth. They have a profound distaste that show bad truths about them. No surpise there.
Finlly, notice no insulting words were used to respond with.
No insults? Well sah!
“Last, it is a known fact that the racist and white people in general have a profound aversion to truth.”
You saying they all the same? Like, every person with a certain melanin content is an evil liar and they all agree with each other to lie the same lies every time?
Or are you just a little blind to the world you actually live in? You prefer your made up world where you can write off millions of people with the stroke of a keyboard!
And are you saying “what about this country or that … ?” as a response? So corruption is Kazhakstan justifies corruption in the BVI government? Or corruption in London means its OK to steal my tax money here in our territory and use it to buy a fat handbag for your girlfriend?
Again, you are on the wrong planet.
But go ahead, spread hate based on complete bull. See where it gets us.
Your words that represent your intellect clearly illustrates that minds are not equal. Some are truly inferior.
There were states of emergency when they took office and a bunch of things happening at the time, they are also a primarily rookie class government so I give them a pass on it. I thought there were more blatant felonies than this misdemeanor. Eating my popcorn and watching on.
You all might be interested in knowing that larger countries USA and EU countries have a staff of financial advisors and lawyers whose sole job as government employees is employee relations and ethics. They assist elected officials with annual and financial reporting filing. Elected officials are not lawyers at least not all of them so they are not expected to know how to interpret the form most of them cant manage their own money either, but you all don’t ask them that before you elect them. You also dont ask or examine how literate they are.
Seems like this is partly intended to embrass the elected officials and bvi in general to show that your political leaders are still primitive in their behavior and thinking.Keep in mind that I do believe some may behave unethically but that’s all over the world. We are talking small potatoes here. And it’s an advance tactic tobstall any independence efforts.
Reality and the and sad part it’s how politics work and how deals get done to keep some parts of the economy legal or illegal going. Don’t judge my statements though until you really give thoughts to really around the world.
I agree with petty stuff. This is very embarrassing to the politicians and the BVI. This COI investigations make the ministers appear illiterate, even those with MD and Ph D. For this, I blame the attorneys who are representing them. This legal group (at the price of $5 million) should have prepare these ministers. You could tell that some of the ministers took the initiate to prepare themselves and, I give them credit for that.
Most importantly, I cannot understand how people can say this has to do with a racist issue. (There was an electoral system to get ripped of D. Trump in the USA). There is a system in place for good governance and liberty. I have dealt with racist remarks. I have dealt with colorism remarks. BV Islanders discriminate against people of color just because of where they are from- what BV islanders called down island. The UK is here to put good governance in the BVI, and people are talking about slavery. Maybe if we stop making xenophobic regards against each other then, others will respect us.
Seems like he is the only one came into power prepared and honest ready to work for the people, the others seem to had a greedy dishonest intent…They need to promote sheep reward him with a ministry..He has proven to have the character we need…
What do you all know about JUSTICE!
@@Hey, You try to sound intelligent but you really sound like an A$&.
I think the problems in bvi have arisen because well under 50% of the adult population have the right to vote. So the relatively few voters are bribed and tempted. Non-voters are ignored and actively intimidated that life will be hard for them if they raise any questions or don’t comply with politicians’ wishes. Few brave people dare question anything. So things have got increasingly bad, particularly under this Government. To the current point where many people suspect major links between senior politicians and organised crime.