Opposition Leader wants oversight of public service given a minister
Opposition Leader Marlon Penn has called for the removal of the Governor as the official responsible for the public service.
Under the constitution, the Deputy Governor manages public service officers on a day-to-day basis but ultimately, the Governor oversees the entire body.
In his statement to the Commission of Inquiry (COI) who invited him to share his position on ‘good governance’, Penn said one of the constitutional changes that would allow for greater self-government would be for the portfolio of the public service to be moved to an elected minister.
“Just as if it could happen under the Deputy Governor or the Governor, I don’t see why it can’t happen under a minister … The minister has a level of accountability built into the system. He has to go back to the people every four years and reapply for his job,” Penn reasoned.
“There has always been this issue of who is really in charge so there is always this back and forth between the ministers and the Governor and the Deputy Governor and we need to have it clearly defined who is really in charge, and we need to put the tenets in place to ensure that whatever needs to be executed, it is executed,” the Opposition Leader added.
He continued: “We had this back and forth recently in the appointment of Permanent Secretaries. We don’t know what really happened. But we need to know who is in charge. We need to clearly delineate the lines of the roles of responsibility, and then hold whoever that individual is accountable to the people of the territory because at the end of the day, it is the taxpayers’ resources that is being used to do these things.”
Penn also argued that there was no continuous process of accountability with the governor as head of the service, especially when it came to training public service members with the skills needed to perform their duties.
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Marlon for God sake Go Sid Dung…Go Sid Dung you will kill the Public Servants and bring in who you want every four years Go Sid Dung
go sit down not go sid dung
Right now there shouldn’t be any ministers. They all need to be removed from office NOW!! Once there is a clearing of the corruption and the racist government includes whites just as every nation includes blacks and whites in government, then there could be a move towards more self governance and not before.
Yes ministers have been shown to be law abiding, efficient, conscientious and scrupulously honest by the COI.
thank God for the VIP Sumf you will never smell that Premier seat
Ministers have demonstrated that they are incapable of being good agents for governance. The Qualified Auditors Reort has shed so much light on these ***.
He without sin cast the first stone! Everything under the Governors portfolio is in shambles and ripe with corruption why isn’t the CIO reviewing them?:
1. We have the most corrupt police force in the region and operation Lucan has cost tax payers millions and we’ve yielded little to no results. Not one arrest!
2. We recorded the first murder at the prison under the control of the Governor. Are you hearing anything about it. That place reeks of corruption. With prisoners holding weed and rum parties weekly.
3. The court system their is constant interference in the judicial system. Which is under control of Govorner and administrative authority.
This is just a few yet nothing from the COI and the commissioner on these matters. No audit reports, no special reports no external review and most disappointing not a peep from the people. Divide and conquer in full effect. Yet they parade our leaders and present trying form a narrative. While their sins are whitewashed? Let us continue pretend that some the UK is our savior. Too late shall be all our cry.
COI aren’t saviors. But neither are these *** that we have in the house of assembly
Ministers would appear to have too much responsibility as it is. Cant even fill out paperwork on time.
What we need is a group of smart well educated people who care about the BVI and will do what is right to ensure growth and sustainability. We don’t need white people in Government to do this. We can do it on our own.
Think there are a lot of people in the BVI who fit that description, unfortunately they are not running the government at this time…. and have not been for a long time.
Working with the UK is not working with “white people” it is working towards a better future for the BVI… which is not the “black people”, but “people”.
That should be not intrested in filling out certain paper works period.
If there’s anything the COI has shown it’s that the public service needs to be LESS political, not MORE.