Gov’t not seeking to make revenue from fines — Premier
The government is not intentionally seeking earnings from fines given out to persons for breaking the law, Premier Andrew Fahie has said.
“Our thing is not about making revenue through fines, we hope that people would be compliant,” Premier Fahie said during a recent joint press conference with marine industry officials.
The Premier’s statement came following blowback received from a government crackdown on non-compliance in the charter yacht industry.
The Moorings and Sunsail were among several charter yacht companies fined hundreds of thousands of dollars in addition to having their vessels detained last week for non-compliance with maritime regulations.
“Our focus is to make sure that all the private sector continues to blossom so that they can hire persons so that more and more persons can be employed and we don’t have anyone in the unemployment line; so that more and more families can be able to better prepare and also be able to handle themselves economically and otherwise. That’s the aim of any government,” the Premier added.
“So the fines, they are part of the law. Those are things, when something doesn’t happen — whether it’s a parking ticket or whatever — you issue them,” he explained.
The territory’s leader argued, though, that fines are not the area governments generally prefer to make their revenue from.
“It is not a knock against the law enforcement agencies because that is part of their job and it is part of the law but if you’re asking me about the monies, I’ll prefer it to be [coming from] somewhere else,” he stated.
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Always believe the opposite whenever this guy speaks
The DPP is always boasting about the fine revenue generated by her department – she ignores the liabilities that her department creates.
The Hon. Premier’s statement is complete BS.
Either that, or the merchants of chaos at HM Customs are not telling him the truth.
He is telling the truth for once. They are not doing it for the fines. They are doing to drive non locally owned businesses into bankruptcy.
after the hurricanes and pandemic the VIP is trying to kill all the remaining businesses
So if you are so concerned about tourist safety all of a sudden for boats that don’t have any track record of a single accident, take these hundreds of thousands of dollars of fines and allocate them to an appropriate safety measure …. rather then the generally cash kitty fund to pay for next customs Christmas party.
true ? look at how he was beating his chest to brag how he the prince of VG made 2 million by double taxing our Caribbean
brothers and sisters in that money gram rip off ( shameful ?
The Shift in Global power requires these changes to make a more submissive slave to the Tyrannical system. There are many other things that need a crackdown but it requires them to lose funding. U.N clear. What does this mean?
Just wait until they are at every small business concerning compliance……This doesn’t end here.
More carbon, more tax, less environmentally friendly more regulation.
More regulation is stealth Taxation.
Charging $6 per person per vessel for a few hours of boating pleasure is $6 per person that is not spent on food/drinks/etc proprietors begging for increased business from the tourism industry
Despite the lurid headlines by Wade, didnt I see quietly on the side that they have been given to 15th April to comply, so may not actually pay those huge fines?
The reality the BVI will ultimately face, is, when a business climate becomes too difficult, too expensive and overwhelmingly bureaucratic in any given location, businesses move on to more user friendly locations. Whether the given location is right or wrong is totally irrelevant.
TBH this premier could say that the sky is blue I would still think he lying and need to verify it some other way other than his word.
Please Premier explain why Customs is always waving this form in the face of any yacht owner, agent or manager whose charter yacht is allegedly not in compliance with any of the thousands of BVI rules and regulations applicable to passenger and private yachts in the BVI?
Perhaps it is because you know that all these assessed fines must be tried in Magistrate’s Court and the prospects of this court upholding these fines are slim. The Crown’s prosecution record in Mag’s Court usually results in most cases being dismissed for lack of evidence after endless adjournments for a few years.
is showering us again. Every time he is criticized, we get the haemorrhage of meretricious crap. Don’t stand downwind of he!
YEP, please stay up wind of that big guy’s rear end just in case he backfired