‘I stand by my statement on BVIHSA situation’, says Fahie after leak
By Fitsroy Randall, BVI News Staff
Despite the emergence of a letter indicating he had intimate knowledge of the situation, Premier Andrew Fahie has said he stands by his statements at last Friday’s press conference that he did not know the full details of the BVI Health Services Authority (BVHSA) saga that led to the dismissal of two senior officials.
The letter, which he wrote to Health Minister Carvin Malone of December 3, 2021, indicated that Premier Fahie orchestrated the dismissals of BVIHSA CEO Cedorene Patricia Malone-Smith and Human Resource Manager Levor Lettsome. But Fahie said he only wrote the letter to ensure the issue was dealt with fairly.
In an interview with BVI News last night, the Premier said his only interest was to ensure there was balance. He said he was made aware of a report from the BVIHSA’s internal auditor and that there were concerns with the auditor. The Premier said he does not know the contents of the audit but based on reports he received, the auditor was placed on administrative leave until the matter was rectified. Fahie said this did not reflect good governance or balance.
“They needed to inquire on why the persons who were mentioned in the audit, nothing personal to them, was not admitted the same fate. Either you put all on leave or you leave all of them on the job,” the Premier said.
“How the board dealt with it was independent of the Premier and independent of the minister. It is as simple as that. That’s what the letter was saying. The auditor was placed on leave and if the auditor is on leave, then the subject of the audit and the persons of interest must be [placed] on leave [too]. All of them with full pay would be the way to go until the matter is disposed of,” Fahie added.
The Premier said he did not get into the intricacies of the audit or the details of what the BVIHSA board did or did not do.
“It was solely from an outside eye stating that it has come to my attention that an audit was done and there were concerns with the audit and the auditor, which is the internal auditor at the BVIHSA,” Fahie continued.
“The only concern I have as the leader of the territory is not one to being personal in going for anyone but to be fair to everyone at all times and that our actions are balanced. The auditor has a report. Whether you like the procedure done for the report, the question would be, ‘is the information in the audit is valid or not?’. If you want to take to look if it was valid or not or if it was done to the correct procedures, that is the board’s prerogative to do without any interference,” the Premier told our news centre.
The BVIHSA board has its independence
Fahie also said he has not gotten in-depth into what is happening because the board has its independence, and he must respect that and wait until the investigations are finished. He said he cannot verify the copy of the letter our news team has in its possession. Fahie said what he can talk about is the letter he wrote. He added that the impetus behind that letter was to ensure the procedures carried out was fair.
The letter’s existence became public yesterday. And among many things, the letter had instructions that the officials — who are accused of committing fraud in the preliminary report — be placed on administrative leave immediately. The letter also called for the immediate reinstatement of the auditor. The letter further stated that if the measures were not implemented, the Premier would be compelled to forward the information to the Commissioner of Police and call for a criminal investigation.
LEAKED LETTER: Premier reportedly orders dismissal of BVIHSA officials
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Our Premier needs to have his head thoroughly examined. You did not know the full details of the saga but yet you wrote two letters demanding that the officials go on leave or else you will contact the police? Then what was your motivation if you didn’t have the facts? This is the same haphazzard and heavy handed way that you have handled everything in this country. You are not competent to be Premier. You are bully who doesn’t know how to handle the power entrusted to you.
The god you praying to please also ask him to open your eyes to see that demonic i**ot who bring out the letter. It like all criminals think them perfect. Keep praying against the Premier fool.
Cover the hon. Premier lord from them dutty bungles a try confuse people. Duttttty bungles!!!!!
1000000% correct! A total bully!
Has some many stories out there he is getting confused..COI please get rid of our ‘King’
These three opposition clowns waste my time to snitch on the honourable premier. Chupes.
Father God what did we do to deserve this man as our leader? Whatever we have done please forgive us of ours sins and trespasses. No matter how bad we have been we do not deserve this. Have mercy upon us and deliver from evil… ah mean Andrew – my bad Jesus.
Yall vote him in then bawling? That ain Me, my child, yall need stop be chupit.
And thats on Me.
Ayo listen to CSC and drain the swamp.
Hope you all find what you were looking for.
IT WAS A PERFECT TIMING FOR HER AND THE REST OF HER TEAM TOO MUCH *** THAKING PLACE DOWN THERE AND THE STAFF SUFFERING WHILE THE STAFF CANT GET INCREEMENT AND NOT ONE DOLLAR INCREASE THEM SO COULD GET THE THIEF , MR FAHIE AND MARLONE KNOWS FULLY WELL WHATS GOING ON WICKED PEOPLE , PRETENDING THAT THEY NEVER KNOW THAT WAS GOING ON , is there any room up at balo
I hope your heart is good enough to see an evil heart. Let croaking Marlon and fake boy Mitch and shaggy head frazer go siddung.
you need to find out the facts, i am so sorry that you dont know the truth of the story. You are fighting down BVI people while A J is using strategy to keep the eyes of the audit off of her until she leave then you will know who is using the funds. she said BVI are not smart people but she is true because she use a BVI to try to destroy those BVI. ask them why they did not send home A J while doing the audit if it is a financial audit.
LIAR LIAR yu pants on FIRE!!
This is beyond politics now. For years people have been saying the Premier’s hand is in EVERY POT and now we see that it’s the truth. This is very alarming that he is not only usurping the board, but the Minister as well. It seems that we have a dictatorship parading as a democracy and now it makes sense why everything in the Territory is a big mess. The one man gang attitude needs to come to an end. What’s even worst is that he is caught in a big untruth and still doubles-down on his story. WOW!
The staff of BVIHSA are thankful to see those people gone. Thank you, Premier.
I take people who lie very seriously. To me, it then becomes about the lie than the actual situation. Lies are very destructive and we do it very easily here in our country. When a country has a leader who cannot tell the truth and lies blatantly like this, it is a country that is in trouble. Lies was one of causes of the COI and when the same Premier was questioned on the things he said about the former government he quickly changed his mouth which tells me that he lied to the public during the last election. I don’t know about anyone else but I take this very seriously. When I cannot believe a word you say I want nothing to do with you.
On VIN* this line was quoted from the letter.
“Should these measures not be implemented forthwith I will be compelled to forward the preliminary audit to the Commissioner of Police and to call for a criminal investigation into the matters alleged therein.”
To me the quote meets the definition of extortion.
Million ways to say or do something. Saying it like that, in my opinion, constitutes a crime.
It also clearly show that there must have been prior engagement on similar issues which were not follow through, so you have to tighten the screw to ensure compliance. When the s**t hits the fan you are the same one who are going to say Fahie’s government you are not going to say the Board. We all remember the saga of the stoplights and a famous minister. There are indeed times when the minister have to be instructed to take direct action when they are reluctant to act.
This the Minister’s Failure. If he was doing his Job Fahie wouldn’t had to get involved…All the minister is focusing on is Covid and Vaccine..Fahie Did the right thing..
Am I the only one who understands what he was saying?…. Like why was the auditor put on leave?…. its a if one goes all must until things are sorted.. Fair enough.. I mean he does lie but I understand the point he says he was making… We know auditors get beat down sometimes especially if they are truthful..
I too understand what is going on here. However, the issue is that he is lying about giving instructions to the Minister. The action taken against the two individuals might be justifiable (who knows), however, the question is why is the Premier lying about giving the instructions to send the two individuals on leave.
A l**r has no memory.
Andrew Fahie, There is a God and He is watching. Be WARNED.
When will the Financial Comptroller be leaving? How come she wasn’t put on leave also. I also need you and the minister of health to clarify her position at health services. How can she be signing as the Financial Comptroller and still sign documents as the Ag. CEO. Isn’t this a conflict of positions. Doesn’t this create an environment to mismanagement.
Sounds like the Premier did the right and fair thing to me. People like to make everything a bad thing when they hate the person that’s doing it. Imagine I’m working for a company as the auditor and I found out that the supervisor and HR stealing money or something fishy happening and I bring it to light and then I am dismissed for bringing up the inconsistencies. That is crazy. The Premier rectified the issue. Going on administrative leave with full pay isn’t punishment especially if the persons are guilty of what they are being accused of. Administrative leave with full pay is basically extra vacation days. Stop the bling outrage and be happy that we have exposed the potential scandal that is going on behind closed doors.
I wonder who appointed Malone and HR Manager in the first place? Answer: this same Government even after there were complaints. What vetting etc was done before they were put in their positions? Ronald Georges quietly exited with no explanations and reappeared as the Acting CMO.
Also the Government just appointed a new Chair who comes with a wealth of experience including in the board room. The internal auditor reports to the Board. It is concerning that a well qualified Chair would not know how this matter should be handled and would have to wait for the Premier to send instructions. Something is missing from the story.
The issue raised by the opposition is not whether or not action was required. The issue is that when asked the Premier seemingly indicated that he did not have the details. It was the same response when the former Tourist Board director was unceremoniously dismissed. He said he would get the details and come back. He never did.
Neither of these meet the basic qualifications or experience requirements to act in either job. This appears to be a long overdue correction that clearly no one else would do despite the audit findings.
The rest of the opposition had his back when the speaker refused to swear him in, now look he don’t show up to nothing they are having……….Typical island man
Forensic audit is long over due.
The lord don’t like wicked ppl but think about it and any body can say their views on it but who works for a company on a contract and at the end can only get 1% of the contract as gratuity? If this is fair to the Hard working health care workers from Doctors to ground staff
Who can be so wicked to do that to their staff in this modern world ?
I’m no genius, but I would like to believe that a contract has terms and conditions which have to be agreed upon and accepted by both parties. If an offer of 1% gratuity is made by the employer and the employee accepts and signs on the dotted line, how is it the fault of the employer? If the employee was not satisficed with that offer, then negotiations would’ve been had and a more reasonable offer put forward and agreed upon by both parties.
On the other hand, if the gratuity was changed (let’s assume to a lower amount) sometime during the employment period unknown to the employee, then that’s a totally different story.
Having read the situation and understanding what is going on, I agree with Fahie’s solution but what I don’t agree with is him l**ng about not knowing about what was going on. He needs to stop l**ng and tell the truth or just say he can’t comment on the situation right now instead of saying he don’t know. Obviously something is going on in BVIHSA with what the Internal Auditor found about the CEO and HR manager and they didn’t liked it and they wrongfully suspended her but yet those 2 in question still working.