COI’s short time frame designed to overwhelm system — Malone
Health Minister Carvin Malone has said he believes the short timeframe within which the Commission of Inquiry (COI) was made to operate was a deliberate ploy to ‘overwhelm the system’.
The ‘system’ to which Malone was referring was government. He made the claim during Standing Finance Committee’s (SFC) deliberations late last year.
When the COI was originally established in 2021, it was expected to be a six-month inquiry, but its life was extended on at least two occasions for more hearings to take place and for additional documents to be submitted by the government.
Malone told the SFC that the COI surely would have overwhelmed the system, save for the fact that particular monies were expended.
According to Malone, the cost of the services rendered both at the Attorney General’s Office and by the public officers in gathering, compiling, writing all of this information, and presenting it had not been calculated.
Govt’s stellar response not possible without Withers
Up to the point of the SFC meetings in November and December of last year, Attorney General (AG) Dawn Smith stated that the COI had already been ongoing for 319 days. She then said her Chambers was engaged in related COI work for every one of those days.
The Attorney General further stated that the sterling response of the government would not have been possible without the assistance of Withers — the law firm that the government hired to represent them in the COI. She said the workload arising from the COI was simply too much for the AG’s Chambers to handle properly on its own.
Smith also told the SFC that the government had disclosed more than ten thousand documents totalling approximately 15,000 pages, responded to 159 letters of requests from the COI, and provided 67 notarised affidavits.
The government had also responded to 19 orders from the COI, 24 warning letters, provided 21 witness statements, made more than 29 submissions on legal points and related matters, provided four position statements on behalf of ministers and the elected government, and responded to not less than 52 letters and emails from the COI requiring a substantive response.
While addressing the SFC, Smith added that even now that the COI hearings have concluded, the Chambers and the Inquiry Response Unit are still responding to almost daily correspondence from the COI.
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That’s because they didn’t find any corruption and are still digging hoping to find the promise land.
The system was overwhelmed because the system is corrupt.
A well run, transparent system that was used to being accountable would have coped easily.
Now dat is stupid statement. If I and other native sons have knowledge of corruption, the the COI has the evidence. They go to come back, one time!
What system? If it wasn’t for the CoI taxpayers would not have known the full horror of the way Government operated. That’s without the many questionable decisions that have been taken relating to public expenditure.
The good thing is that with extensions the Government will not be able to complain about the result. They had full opportunity to present their response, with the benefit of top legal assistance.
We now know for sure why the BV has got so little from all the Government revenue generated between 1984 and 2012 or so. Instead we have a terrible public education system and terrible infrastructure.
Why do we continue to give these incompetent f**king idiots airtime? Just ignore them until they are voted out!
They cannot accomplish one meaningful thing since elected but always playing the victim and spewing ignorance. Just look at the BVI, do we have any shame at all?
Who called for this COI again? If yeh Opposition Leader Andrew Fahie. You all made this mess of a bed. Now lie in it. You get no sympathy here.
The COI should’ve been here to stay
If the government wasn’t such a disorganized mess the system wouldn’t have been “overwhelmed”
YOU ALL WERE STALLING TO TRY AND DESTROY EVIDENCE , BUT IT DIDN’T WORK , SO YOU ALL TRYING RACISM AS A DISTRACTION / IT NAH WERK
I tired, I ain’t able! Typical response.
COI…Thorough inquiry with collaborative evidence.
Result…informed and fair decision.
Much respect for the process applied by the COI not withstanding the demonstrated resistance of areas within our elected Government with tactics such as stalling and submission of incomplete post deadline requested evidence.
Stuck on stupid comes to mind but immaturity might be the more palatable definition of the engine which drives our Government.
Hon Malone I have supported you throughout. Please don’t continue to make these rash and foolish comments. Any government, business, charity or even kindergarten would be able to provide the required documents, within the timescale given by the COI.
These requests were not to overwhelm the system, they were to find information and thus evidence for the proceedings that will soon come.
The Government tried hard to stall the response, destroy or mislay documents, handover documents in a disorderly manner, claim racism from the white masters.
I now eagerly await the COI report. Let’s hear the extent of corruption that has suppressed our own people, our infrastructure and our territory.
Together we will step forward and forge a brighter future for our beloved British Virgin Islands.
Cantwin again Malone is a waste ah time
Short time frame?? The Turks and Caicos COI took SIX MONTHS from beginning to end. You’ve had MORE than enough time to do what they’ve asked.
It is because they found so much! C’Mon guys, own up to it and move on. Elections are coming up. I’m thinking based on this COI, plus the money laundering allegations a few years ago, how are we trusting these guys? As one of the commentators earlier mentioned, when people have huge houses, huge boats and huge cars, one has to question where the cash came from.