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Gov’t given failing grade on COI reforms — Skelton

Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton said the government must get a failing grade over its inability to implement Commission of Inquiry (COI) governance reforms since entering office.

Skelton recently backed out of Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley’s offer to appear in a joint press conference to rebut Governor John Rankin’s move to secure greater powers for his office from the United Kingdom’s Overseas Territories Minister.

Skelton argued that he did not want the Opposition’s message to become muddled in the government’s attempt at defending its poor record on meeting deadlines for the implementation of COI reforms.

Opposition members chose to hold a separate press conference today instead, where Skelton said lawmakers from the other side of the political aisle intend to demonstrate their solidarity with the government over constitutional issues related to the governor’s move.

Skelton accused the United Kingdom of engaging in dictatorship in seeking to grant more powers to the governor which Rankin said are needed to help implement COI governance reforms in the territory.

According to Skelton, “We know deadlines are not written in stone, but you should be able to accomplish some part of whatever you set those deadlines to accomplish. So, I really can’t sit here and say that the Premier did a good job or not did a good job. What I can sit here and say is that out of 48 recommendations, only 24 was achieved.”

Skelton expressed that the constitutional review commission was one of those that had been completed, however, he suggested that this was an external review and was largely outside of the government’s efforts.

He argued that the other 23 recommendations that had been completed were done under the previous unity government.

The Opposition Leader contended that none of the agreed-upon recommendations between the unity government and the United Kingdom had advanced to a stage where they appeared to be near completion.

Skelton added: “I will say he has a 50 per cent and that’s a failing grade. It says a failing grade if you’re marking it that way.”

 

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7 Comments

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  1. Rubbish says:

    Ronnie and friends see this as an opportunity to seek power and maybe even form the Government, that’s all this is about. When he initially agreed to have the joint meeting with the Premier, wasn’t he aware of the ‘failing grade’? None of the 13 in HOA can be trusted, NOT F**KING ONE!

    Like 17
    Dislike 13
  2. Me says:

    Your name speaks for itself “RUBBISH”
    This boi who state himself as premier on hid own electorate votes of 400 plus votes is not a leader.I can hear going home to mother bawling about who is who.Poor boi

    Like 15
    Dislike 2
    • @Me says:

      Go back to school before posting on this public forum. The Opposition are still upset because Lorna pulled a hard card on them while they were there playing the a**. Now they will be playing the bigger a** at their press conference because nobody want to hear s**t from them.

  3. Jim says:

    Duh

    What reform? Can’t wait for the U.K. to take over the circus here

  4. Yoyo says:

    UK coming soon can’t wait

    Like 4
    Dislike 1
  5. Success VS Failure. says:

    There is a saying, If you don’t plan to succeed
    Then you plan to Fail. Everyone is singing the Chorus: The System is Broken, The System is Broken and blaming the UK. While I agree to some extent that because the UK is responsible for All OTS, that doesn’t mean that the Governor should walk behind the Elected Representatives and the Civil Servants with a Whip for them to do their Jobs. Anyone who is employed whether in Public or Private Organizations after being qualified to attain the Job and properly oriented in the scope of the Job and the Dos and Don’ts of the Entity should be held responsible and accountable for the Job they were hired to do. Every Organization should and Must have a Succession Plan. There are some Employees who own their positions and DO NOT want to train anyone to take over from them and want to hold on to their Jobs forever. If they are not there then the Company must come to a halt JUST because of Job Security. It happens everywhere unless a Succession Plan is implemented. Then in Government you have some old Guards who doesn’t care if School keep or not they think they are there for good while demoralizing those Employees who really want to do a Great Job. Then comes the Retirement Policy. There must be in place such a Policy when the Employee have put in a specific Number of years of Service or they have reached Retirement age they should automatically proceed on their leave with proper recognition of course and give way to that Person who was being Groomed for their position. Then you have the Organizational Hierarchy. Who reports to whom. Employees Must know who they report to from day one. That person may change from time to time but the position remains. Every Employee in any Organization is providing a service to the Public from Bottom to Top. No one is above being able to serve the Public. If The Manager of an Organization or the Premier of the Country is absent, the Work still goes on BUT if the Sanitization Workers or the Domestic Workers are on Strike for even a day, You have a problem. That means, Everyone is equally important as the other. Who Evaluates who on the Job? or who are responsible for ensuring that Employees performance is acceptable, exceeding expectation or not up to Par? And what are the Consequences if in those instances? if someone doesn’t meet the requirement of their Job? Incentives. What does your Benefit Package look like? How do you as the Employer Incentivize your Employees? What is your Disciplinary Policy and Procedure? Most people in the BVI especially Employees don’t like to Read thus they don’t know their Rights and Most Employers shy away from ensuring that the Employees know their Rights as some of them don’t know their Rights either or not interested in knowing the Laws of the Country in which they are operating from. It is also said: To be successful working in a Foreign Country, One must educate themselves on the Culture, Laws and relevant information BEFORE they even arrive in that Country. If is also said: A Manager is only as Good as their Successor.

    Part 1.

  6. Register of Interest? says:

    Has Mr. Skelton filed his register of interest in the private sector?

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