Opposition mum on whether they’ll take Greedy Bill benefits
The six Opposition members of the House of Assembly recently chose to remain silent when asked whether they will be accepting lump sums under the controversial Greedy Bill when they retire.
The “Greedy Bill”, formally known as the Retiring Allowances (Legislative Service) (Amendment) Act 2023, promises massive salaried payouts to retired legislators who serve anywhere from one term to five terms. That section of the law only applies to legislators who served from 2019 and onwards.
The Greedy Bill also changed the definition of “salary”, making it legal for former legislators to get even more funds.
At a press conference on March 19, one journalist asked Marlon Penn, Julian Fraser and Melvin Turnbull (who were serving members when the law was passed) whether they would be accepting the benefits under the controversial law once they retire.
“The Premier has committed to not taking this, will you three commit similarly?” the journalist asked.
Fraser was the first to respond: “Are you speaking from a position of knowledge or are you just assuming?”
“I’m speaking from a position of knowledge, sir,” the journalist said.
“Well, your knowledge is incorrect. You picked on three of us and there are six of us here. I submit that all six of us are eligible to benefit from that bill. So I suggest you check your facts,” Fraser said pointedly.
“It was my understanding that…” the journalist said. At this point, an awkward moment of silence followed and none of the Opposition members at the table volunteered to answer the question.
“Moving on…” the journalist then stated as he abandoned the question. Fraser is partially correct. While all retired legislators will receive some benefits from the bill, only those you served in the last House of Assembly (from 2019 up till the 2023 general elections) have the choice receiving the offensive “greedy” segments, which is a salary even after they retire.
Recently, Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley revealed that under the controversial law, more than $2.5 million is expected to be paid to politicians who were not returned to office at the last election.
This means that those politicians chose not to decline the benefits, which was an option given to all elected leaders when sections of the law were repealed.
Premier Wheatley said he would decline any benefits under the law. However, to date, it isn’t clear whether any other current or retired elected leader will do the same.
Recently, Eighth District Representative Marlon Penn stated that he cannot say whether he’ll decline benefits under the Greedy Bill, as he isn’t close to retirement.
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All will take the money.
I listened to the press conference. I think the reporter asked the wrong question. All legislators will benefit from the first part of the greedy bill because their pension will increase because the calculation will be based on their full benefits now. That was not the case before. Even our past legislators will benefit from this change.
However, it is only those remaining members of the last House of Assembly (Natalio, Sharie, Vincent, Kye, Fraser, Marlon, Mitch) and those who lost in the April 2023 elections will benefit from the second part of the greedy bill where legislators are paid a salary when they are not working.
Looks like a scene from the God Father!
No say the people.
Enough is enough! No to the self-passed greedy bill
They love the Greedy Bill. HYPOCRITES.
They are NOT mum, they are just busy laughing deep inside at the stupid lemmings that thought they would give up any of that money. It’s funny how quickly we forgot what started us down this downward spiral that we are on and ironic how some of the Opposition Members are talking like they have selective amnesia. Need a refresher? Think, UNITY GOVERNMENT! They were the ones that rushed to sign on to these deadlines, recommendations etc. without thinking for even one minute what the long-term ramifications would be how realistic it was to get the work done. Now we are here acting brand new like it’s all Sowande and VIP’s fault.
The reality is that the BVI is now at a place where nobody really cares about anything, everything is all about looking good but not actually getting anything good done. Our young politicians who we thought were a bright future have turned out to be flickering or dim bulbs. They are all about position and rank, rather than helping the people. Look at how quickly they gave up the district allocations and happy to send people to Social Development regardless of how minor the assistance needed? Look at how quickly Marlon and Mitch became fans of Sowande, all because they saw an opportunity to be Ministers, drive the tint out big jeeps etc. Then come election time, they all split up again seeking more power. These people could never love the BVI, they love themselves. I’ll sit back and continue to watch the reality show while you guys get caught up in believing the theatrics being played out before our eyes.
of pretenders ,doing an acting job and trying to make it look real ( we must remember that where there’s mo integrity ~ [ ITS JUST ANOTHER RAT RACE ] and we all know that they don’t trust eachother
That money could fix a lot of road.
Just unbelievable. Look around the BVi. The islands are falling apart. The BVi needs money & lots of it to fix everything !where has all the money gone ??? Look to the hills for the big fancy houses & apartment buildings. Yep. Just give them more money. That should solve everything.
Of course they will. They are all slimy like that
If they take that money, the UK needs to suspend the constitution immediately, because the Territory and the rest of us will be screwed.