RDA an implementation body, not gov’t alternative
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communications and Works, Anthony McMaster.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Communication and Public Works Anthony McMaster says he welcomes the help that the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) brings.
His remarks come on the heels of talks by at least one legislator that the RDA is beginning to act as if it is an independent government, and may be part of Britain’s plan to gain increased control of the territory.
“No I don’t feel that way,” McMaster told BVI News recently.
“The one thing I am not afraid to admit is the more hands on deck, the better it is for all of us, the easier it is for all of us. The Ministry of Communication and Works is probably the biggest ministry in government and we have quite a bit on our hands.”
RDA is an ‘implementing agency’
McMaster said with the RDA, the ministry can now focus on continuing to provide the day to day services that are required to keep the British Virgin Islands running smoothly.
“So, an agency like the RDA we welcome … from everything that I have seen and from all the discussions I have had [with them] they are basically an implementing agency similar to Public Works.”
He added: “The reality is that there is too much work for my ministry to contend with.”
The RDA was established to execute the government’s five-year recovery plan as the territory rebuilds post hurricanes Irma and Maria.
The recovery plan passed in the House of Assembly last week.
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He aint got a clue
Maybe not but he is right on this one. The whole blow up about the RDA is purely political stall tactics. Those making all this noise and pushing conspiracy theories know that if the RDA is put in place and the funds are released, the place will be fixed up and people would not be as angry with the sitting Government. I guarantee you if we had elections tomorrow and the Government changed, the RDA would be passed and funding released at the very next HOA sitting. Not all of us are sitting around like fools, we are paying attention and making notes. If all borrowing and major projects must pass through the House of Assembly which is fact, how can the RDA be a Government unto itself? It seems in the BVI we are proud to act stupid when it comes to certain things when in fact we should know better.
@oh. The RDA is already passed in the HOA. Yes all burrowing and major projects must pass through the HOA but who control the money. Government cannot get anything do without the approval of the RDA, so what is that. Not all of us are fools for real.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
— is one of them being used to swindle money but time will surely catch up on them. I will like to know who have hand in that company who was responsible for burying those pipes down there at road reef.
Is the PS admitting that the MCW and by extension government is not up to task? Is not the MCW adequately funded, staffed, equipped……etc to perform its responsibilities? In June 2015, the electorate raced to the polls to elect a new government; it voted 11-2, in a landslide , to return the NDP to power. The NDP is the duly elected government and should be effectively running the territory internal affairs. Apparently, this is not true. The Hurricanes exposed some weaknesses. Did the lack of trust and confidence in the transparency, responsibility and accountability fuel the need for the RDA. The RDA is an alternative government. If it quacks, looks, and waddles like a duck, it is a duck.
BVI in way too deep. Your goose is cooked. Who to blame.