Politicians disrespecting people with lateness

There is yet another public call for the territory’s leaders to be punctual for sittings of the House of Assembly, as complaints continue to mount over their frequent lateness.

Talk show host Claude Skelton Cline said he has been receiving numerous complaints from residents who are often forced to wait hours beyond the scheduled start time for legislative proceedings.

Skelton Cline described the persistent tardiness as reckless and a dereliction of duty by some of the territory’s top elected officials.

“House of Assembly members, if you can be this derelict in respecting and honouring your own time, other people’s time, work, worth and value, it speaks volumes about how you think about us,” he said. “This is how you build pride and develop a country. This is how you show maturity and growth, by first honouring time. If you can’t honour time, how are you going to honour your word?”

He said he was speaking on behalf of the majority of residents in the Virgin Islands.

Skelton Cline also recounted a recent incident in which a pastor, invited to open a House sitting with prayer, was forced to leave after the event failed to start on time.

“I heard that they called him and asked him to come back and pray. I would have said hell no! Not only would I not go back, I wouldn’t accept any more invitations,” Skelton Cline said.

Concerns about the culture of lateness in the House of Assembly are not new. During his first address in the House on May 18, 2023, then-Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton criticised his colleagues for wasting his time by arriving late to sittings.

Former legislators Neville ‘Sheep’ Smith and Shereen Flax-Charles have also publicly expressed frustration with repeated delays.

At the time, Smith revealed that appeals from Speaker Corine George-Massicote had gone largely ignored. He also argued that the lateness unfairly impacted the staff of the House, who are often left waiting for hours.

Smith had suggested implementing a fine system to penalise members who are chronically late.