Reform difficulties not due to lack of cooperation — Stoutt-Igwe
Difficulties alluded to in a report issued by Governor John Rankin on the progress of Commission of Inquiry (COI) reforms are unlikely to have been due to a lack of cooperation from the government.
This is according to Permanent Secretary (PS) in the Premier’s Office Carolyn Stoutt-Igwe who told reporters at a press conference recently that some delays may have been due to additional requests by reviewers appointed to oversee these reforms.
Governor Rankin, in his report, said he was concerned that several reviewers and investigators reported difficulty accessing relevant documents from the public service.
However, Stoutt-Igwe told the press that different types of information had to be provided to reviewers who later requested them in different formats than they were initially provided.
“In some cases, we’ve provided electronic information [but] some of the reviewers wanted information in hard copy. So, the Implementation Unit had to provide that information for them,“ Stoutt-Igwe said. “In some other cases, some of the reviewers started the review and as they were going along, they discovered there was additional information that they required. So, we’ve been providing that information to them.”
But even as she admitted that there were delays in getting information to reviewers, the PS said that in some instances, the Implementation Unit also submitted information in advance for the reviewers.
Another issue that the PS raised was the late start that some of the reviewers had made, even as others were able to begin on time. “I must point out that the Implementation Unit actually was fully staffed on August 15. Some of these reviews were started before that. So prior to that time, the Premier’s Office is the one that was providing the information for them,” the PS stated.
Stoutt-Igwe also explained that the governor and the Premier had to first agree on the reviewers before their terms of reference could be drawn up on the basis of the recommendations in the COI report.
Once this was done, the PS said the Implementation Unit had communication with the reviewers to ensure they understood some of the assignments before they provided information to them.
“So, it has been a lot of information to gather. We had to prepare bundles for the different reviewers but it’s not a matter that there was no cooperation, for example, but mostly, information was provided ahead of time and in some cases, we had to collect additional information,” the PS explained.
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This is not surprising, what do we really expect? The UK and their Commissioner were quick to paint us as wanton criminals rather than dealing with the few people doing nonsense so of course they need to find reasons to justify their BS!
Excuses excuses excuses across Government Platform from top to bottom..It has always been ..,nothing is done most of the time but for certain it will be past due.
I understand that there have been numerous arguments and not much progress in implementing the transparency act that the ministers simply do not want to pass, so we believe that it is due to a lack of cooperation from the government.
You have a situation where you are told that your systems are not adequate, they need upgrading, you need processes and procedures in place. And the authority that has labeled your system as inadequate is asking you to use the very system with super strict timelines and expect results. Now you think about that for a second and let me know if it makes any sense to you.
Yes, but our government agreed to this charade. We are in a bloody mess. Just waiting for the next shoe to drop…
Exactly. If government employees actually did a full day’s work, never “stepped out” when they should be working and only had an hour for lunch, everything would be fine. The service is over-staffed and inefficient because of terrible productivity and work ethic.
is a word that is not in the BVI civil service vocabulary. Therefore there is no ‘lack of cooperation’ because cooperation does not exist in their world.
The Premier , The Head of Ports, The Customs Commissioner, The Postmaster, a PS and numerous other arrested or suspended and everything is fine?
Extract your head from the dark place you are keeping it.
Poor excuses . What is difficult in printing an electronic copy to a manual copy … You are just showing up the incompetence of the system . What an affair !! All the knowledge people in the BVI are either retired , about to be retiring , leaving the system or fed up with individuals who are all flash but no substance . My poor country !!!