Rising fees! Penn accuses gov’t of mismanaging $$ while feeding egos

Opposition Leader Marlon Penn has accused the government of making constant missteps in managing the territory’s finances while, at the same time, feeding the ego of a highly-placed government supporter. 

Penn made the assertion while speaking on the NDP radio programme last evening. 

“There is no vision, there’s no clear plan for what they want to do in anything,” the Eighth District Representative said. 

He further accused the Andrew Fahie-led government of running the country “by the seat of its pants” and suggested that it needed to be more strategic. 

“We’re not seeing that, we’re seeing a constant mismanagement of the limited resources we have right now,” Penn said. 

Haemorrhaging money trying to feed an ego

The Opposition Leader pointed to the incident of the now aborted injunction filed by House Speaker, Julian Willock, and suggested this was a complete wastage of government funds. 

Penn said the government, through the Speaker, was now compelled to pay up to $120,000 in court fees in this matter due to ignorance. The court is yet to decide on the final amount.

He said a very similar situation occurred when the Speaker tried to prevent the Fourth District Representative from taking his seat in the House of Assembly. 

This decision, he said, led to the government being forced to pay nearly $500,000 in court fees and damages. 

According to the Opposition Leader, this was all done because the government was wasting money while trying to feed someone’s ego. 

He also pointed to government’s hiring of Silk Legal law firm and Withers Law at a purported cost capped at $5 million to represent them in the ongoing Commission of Inquiry (COI). 

“We could find $5 million to pay attorneys fees when we have businesses closing every day because they’re struggling?” Penn questioned. 

Silk Legal represents all non-Cabinet members of the House, including Penn, while Withers represents the Premier and his ministers.