Gov’t decides to ‘bring back’ old Register of Interest Act with tweaks
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has said the government plans to reintroduce the existing Register of Interest Act of 2006 and amend it to include penalties for persons who fail to declare their interest to the register on time.
He proposed this as an alternative to establishing the Register of Interest Act of 2022 that was recently withdrawn from the House of Assembly (HOA) because of several concerns, including the government’s initial decision to rush it through the House to meet a deadline promised to the United Kingdom.
The Premier said the government also plans to have public consultations about striking a balance between registering one’s interest and privacy.
Speaking at the HOA sitting held last week, Premier Wheatley said all members of the House agreed that the people must be involved in the process, democracy must be respected, and the integrity of the legislative process must be respected. He added that he cannot see how the United Kingdom or anyone else could counter this argument.
“So, yes, we missed the deadline — this June 30th deadline — and of course we have to discuss how we resolve that. What we will do is bring back the existing Register of Interest Act (2006). We will make that public, we will add the penalties for not declaring on time and then of course we will engage in a conversation with the people of the Virgin Islands, with public officers, persons in statutory office, and other public bodies about the measures that we should take as it pertains to the registration of interest,” Dr. Wheatley said.
“[We will also talk about] what it is we seek to achieve and what balance we can strike between persons individual rights — their rights to privacy and their rights not to be exposed unnecessarily and, you know, be subjected to security risks, etcetera. And that is the conversation we will have. We will take time for that, and we will bring other examples of countries in territories where they register their interest, and we will see what works for us best here in the Virgin Islands,” the Premier added.
Dr Wheatley also clarified that it is important that people understand very clearly that the legislation the Government of National Unity committed to passing by June 30 was only about making the existing register public for elected officials.
“We cannot get past that point. We cannot be leading our people to believe that we intended to pass a bill on them that they were not consulted on. We cannot allow people to believe that. That was not the situation and that was not the case and every elected member in the House knows that. We were just supposed to, by June 30th, make the existing register public. That is what we committed to do,” Dr Wheatley said.
“However, it happened a new bill came to HOA for three readings. We must not let the public think that this bill was approved for three readings. The three readings, one, two, and three were for the existing register that the members have to declare presently to go one, two, three. Anybody that is misleading the public to think that we were coming one, two, three on public servants that they did not have an opportunity to see is being disingenuous,” the Premier added.
He explained that the new bill should have an introduction known as a first reading. He said it should be made public and the ministry responsible for bringing it to the House has a responsibility to consult with stakeholders.
Editor’s Note: (The three stages of passing legislation)
All bills go through an extensive process after being introduced in the House. A Bill must pass through several stages, known as ‘readings’. At the ‘first reading’, the ‘short title’ of the Bill is announced and a day is then appointed for the ‘second reading’, at which point the bill will be debated fully.
If the Bill passes its second reading, it moves on to the ‘committee stage’. During committee, which is closed to the public, the Bill is considered in very close detail. Every clause is carefully examined, and amendments to the Bill may then be moved and voted upon.
After the committee stage, there is the ‘report stage’ when the Speaker reports what has happened to the Bill in committee — whether there have been amendments or not. At the third and final reading, a Bill may be accepted or rejected by means of a vote.
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and so the mediocracy and corruption continues. The 4th district representative must be happy now that he does not need to disclose his assets..
This is not going to be acceptable to the Governor and the UK. Suspend the constitution and be done with this nonsense. Governor they are never going to change. It’s in their genes. You can’t make a bird swim underwater.
This is pure nonsense you hear. These guys don’t want to tell on themselves. Make the register public and done with it.
The dog ate my homework
trying to ‘tweak’ an outdated 2006 ROI law. When a person enters public employment that person surrenders their so called right to privacy. Those persons participating in the BVI’s 2022 private economy have a right to privacy UNTIL that person accepts any compensation from the BVI Treasury. At this point their privacy right is extinguished and ALL their interests must become public knowledge for the betterment of the BVI.
It’s time for the UK to move in and stop playing with these people they will never change they have to much to hide.
It’s time for you to crawl u dear the rock from where you came. We opened the VI doors to the rejects from else where hence we are being treated like second class citizens in our country.
Huh, you politicians pass bills all the time that the public is not consulted on. What am I hearing now? Is it because this bill holds you accountable to the people that pay your bills? The people that elected you to look out for us!
Civil Servants are entitled to privacy, but when you are paid by the public purse and use that influence to enrich yourself in the private sector then that needs to be spelt out. It is very simple.
Civil servants lived happily through covid and the hurricanes without hardly a dime taken from their purse. The private sector got decimated, yet still mocked by our leaders sailing a rudderless ship while fleecing our taxes to further enrich and ease their lifestyles!
Nothing wrong with transparency!
The last register of interest act was a disgrace to the people of the Virgin Island, and so are these corrupt politicians. This place is not getting any better, UK please conduct the correct investigations and get rid of these corrupt politicians for good. The people of the BVI are tired, these politicians work in their own interest, not in that of the people of the BVI, just like other corrupt countries like St Vincent, Myanmar and many others. We are UK citizens and we demand that the UK STEP IN NOW, PLEASE STOP WAITING WE ARE SINKING UNDER THE WEIGHT OF THESE CORRUPT POLITICIANS
More of the same! Foolish excuses and no desire for transparency.
“So, yes, we missed the deadline — this June 30th deadline”.
And now the next deadline to miss will also have an excuse.
Youve had years to get this done and the excuse was that you had to rush???
“Government’s initial decision to rush it through the House to meet a deadline promised”
The only promise this government makes is to their bank accounts!
Just so fed up.
Recycled ‘politicians’, recycled legislation and no recycling of the people’s monies that have been misappropriated, siphoned off and plain out robbed from the BVI Treasury for decades!! Is the Guv having a laugh at our expense? I hope not! Seems like we are being thrown every curve ball and fast pitch on the Unity administration’s arsenal – maybe Anju’s encrypted message to Carbin has ‘united’ ALL the current rotten crop of administrators we currently have at the helm. How long before the Guv realizes the jig these tools are playing…chune done start Guv; what dance are you doing?
This bill must have legal consultation to see if it meets COI recommendations and the constitution.
No recommendations or attempted changes are needed from the public, which would likely be represented by self-serving contractors and public servants.
“The Premier said the government also plans to have public consultations about striking a balance between registering one’s interest and privacy”
This here tells me that the UK must take over.
This should have been a no brainer, and you still couldn’t do it. Disgraceful. It’s almost like you WANT direct rule.