Gov’t too caught up with COI to fix issues, says Skelton
Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton has expressed serious concerns over the government’s preoccupation with the Commission of Inquiry (COI) recommendations, suggesting this has led to the neglect of urgent issues within the territory.
During a recent House of Assembly sitting, Skelton pointed out that while the COI’s work is crucial, the government must not lose sight of other essential public needs.
“The government is so caught up in the COI and their recommendations that they don’t understand what’s happening out there,” Skelton remarked.
He criticized the government for failing to address essential infrastructure and basic services. Skelton pointed to the government’s inadequate attention to the Public Works Department and the direct consequences on community wellbeing.
“What is Public Works doing? They don’t want to say it because there are too many people in Public Works who are probably our friends and we don’t want to say bad things about Public Works,” he stated.
Skelton’s concerns also focused on the territory’s overall economic and civil service effectiveness. He pointed out the inefficient use of resources, specifically criticizing the allocation of maintenance funds. “We are taking the resources of the country and doing capital works and leaving maintenance totally undone,” Skelton argued.
The Opposition Leader also drew attention to the civil service, mentioning its ballooning costs without corresponding productivity. “We need to change our model. We cannot continue to have to pay $176 million a year for a system, a civil service system, that is totally ineffective in any fashion,” he added.
Skelton also addressed the potential consequences of neglecting these issues, emphasizing the importance of government awareness and responsiveness to public needs. “Our job is to talk and to point out the difficulties the people are having that you don’t know they are having,” he said while framing his role in the Opposition as a critical voice for the unheard.
Skelton’s argument sheds light on the tension between addressing long-term governance issues raised during the COI and managing current administrative and infrastructural challenges. His call for a balanced approach suggests that the government should diversify its focus and ensure that it maintains and enhances the territory’s foundational services and structures while implementing necessary reforms.
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Stop throwing mud Ronnie.
Unless the CoI gets fixed, then there will be radical changes to Government affecting you and everyone, so this is a priority.
And you personally had years in which you could have helped fix the infrastructure and failed to do so. Your family has done very well out of being in government and the people are suffering as a result.
So, remove yourself from the political arena and let people who want to do something, rather than just posturing, take over.
What a pu$$y. We need a new opposition leader
CoI recommendations are #1 priority. If the 31 August deadline is not met then there is no more local BVI government.
Because she put a lil boy to do a big man’s job
Luarna in the Corna the 70 yr wonder girl do this territory wrong. What’s her plan other than to kackle like Kamala
If you would have done things right from the start there would not have been a COI..that’s how life works,
you create a mess, you first clean it up!
White people blogging again. We up to ayo
All this yapping yapping and no one step moving towards the direction of getting things done. If the Opposition sees the Government ain’t progressing, why can’t they take the initiative and utilize their salaries and services to get the ball on the court. Demonstrate some action in doing the work they were elected to do, not showing up in the HOA and making noise.
Ronnie Skelton you need to shut up about the COI recommendations because if the government was doing what is was supposed to do the UK wouldn’t have had to give them four extensions. The leader of the government Natalio Wheatley is not interested in completing the COI or fixing issues within the territory he is too busy partying and traveling. You guys are very quick to blame the COI for everything when the problem is right in front of you. My wish is at the end of August if the COI is not completed the UK take over the BVI for two years and at the end of two years have an election and not allow past ministers of the house to run for office.
That happened already. There was first the COI, then a chance to start fixing things. Then came the elections and the people liked what was happening and kept the government. The people if the BVI do not know what they want but what is good for the country. They are too critical of the wrong people.
People write so much nonsense in the blogs because of hatred and jealousy. Some of those people in government genuinely love the BVI. They gain not a damn thing by being there, but they do because of love for country and the desire to see the BVI progress.
How can you trust a pokitician that can clerly state what ia wrongg but when in power did nothing to fix these things. If in power again he would not think rules and requirements apply to his important self.
The COI is stopping yall from fixing issues that was there long before the COI?
make it make sense
better get them reforms done!
HIS PROPERTY RENTAL RENEWAL CONTRACT / So it’s time to chat the
same sh*t again and if these jokers just plan to put the blame on the COI all the time as an excuse then we cannot expect better from them either
Please Ronnie i am begging just zip it up for a moment. Your head is stuck in some cloud that you may need to get out of.