Festival Committee should not be under any Board — Parsons

Parsons

Cultural icon and former legislator Eileene Parsons has joined the chorus of people who argue that the Virgin Islands Festival & Fairs Committee (VIFFC) should not have been transferred to the BVI Tourist Board.

The Committee was controversially transferred to the BVI Tourist Board earlier this year, and Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley explained at the time that a motion in the House of Assembly would follow to ratify that decision.

In contrast to claims by Eighth District Representative Marlon Penn, the Premier has remained adamant that the decision was not illegal and has insisted that the transition required some time to be completed.

“I am saying it without fear that the Festival Committee has no call being under any other board,” Parsons argued during an appearance on the Talking Points radio show on ZBVI.

She emphasised that she wanted the festival committee to return to a freestanding state with a chairman and proper accountability.

VIFFC Chair Dirk Walters, who appeared alongside Parsons, explained that the Premier justified the transfer. “There’s a lot of concern about accountability, and, you know, when you have things like Festival, essentially you’re talking about millions of dollars,” Walters said.

With the festival’s budget growing over the last few years, Walters argued that it was unfair for the treasurer on the Committee to manage the financial burden. He suggested that a team of people, including chartered accountants and other qualified persons, were needed to assist.

Walters insisted that the new structure could not work because it lacked autonomy. “You need to have an autonomous body, at least a division. If it stays under the Tourist Board or is to go under the Tourist Board fully, you need to create a division similar to how Virgin Islands Festival and Fairs was or is, and have that division with persons that have autonomy in terms of the planning and the execution.”

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