There’s been a cycle of cronyism — Penn
Health Minister Marlon Penn has called for a change of the status quo regarding the way the government does business with consultants in the territory.
Penn was speaking at the time in the House of Assembly during the debate of the Auditor General’s report on the controversial contracts between Claude Skelton Cline and the Andrew Fahie-led government between 2019-2021.
Auditor General, Sonia Webster concluded in her report that Skelton Cline received over $365,000 from the public purse despite having made no real attempt to deliver anything of value to the government through his various contracts.
Penn argued that Virgin Islanders that have particular skill sets and abilities should have an opportunity to do work with the government but on a merit-based system.
“Going forward, consultancies have to be merit-based. They have to be based on one’s ability to deliver and they have to be measurable,” the Health Minister argued.
“That is why I was fighting in the Opposition to ensure that we got value and we got measurable results for the people of this territory,” Penn said. ”The subsequent reports to come will show that it’s been a cycle of cronyism, a cycle of empowering persons because they could defend and go after the other person to maintain your status quo.”
Penn described the circumstances surrounding Skelton Cline‘s contracts with the government as public funds being mismanaged and pointed to one of the contracts which set out to achieve 1000 jobs in 1000 days where nothing was done.
He further argued that lawmakers should not act now as if they were not there when it happened and insisted that members of the then-Cabinet, who were part of the process that approved the contracts, should be held accountable.
“The reform process has taught us that it cannot be business as usual, and the exposure through a lot of these reports, and the challenges that are going to come forth, says to us that there’s a culture that existed that has to be changed, has to be eroded, has to be nipped in the bud in terms of how we do work and engage and how we handle public funds,“ Penn said.
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Of which you have been part of and failed to call out in previous administrations.
Are you changing this now.
CSC not providing value got money? He is doing a bang up job providing the same quality services he performed for Detroit. He isn’t too popular there either. Consistency is key.
This guy has no credibility he will never be premier
So this is a problem only with Consultants???? No Mr Penn – almost everywhere Government spends a dime, someone profits who has added no value to the transaction. We are sick of all of you.
???????????????Really!!!???? Well this is our first time hearing this, who would have ever thought. Oh while you are here how is the 25 year sewage project going?? I figure we will be half way with it in 2050 and dig it back up again for fun…..
Marlon serious? The guy was part of the NDP when Marlon was there.
Cronyism, nepotism, cousins, nephews, family are just words that describe a system of government based on connections not merit. Total transparency in all government business is the only solution.
Is Marlon in his right mind??? Did he just got elected? He seems to forget that he also is and was apart of the same he is there preaching thinking that we people forgot even him was extra paid by his own NDP for so called work at FSC while serving politics. Now you tell me if only he could have done that work or you didn’t have others to do it?
Cronyism at its best! Now he bringing Lorna who was doing the same for her husband and then Premier!
These people suffering from Alzheimer’s!
that was gently put , I hope the wiGo on the yellow site who has turned CALYPSONIAN now , who only YAPPING WITH racism lyrics , can sing about what is really going on in q0the country TRUTHFULLY for a change , this is real leave that fantasy sh*T alone
Cline deliverd nothing. The truth is Cromwell smith nothing either. Time to check all so-called consultants
looks like the ( HOLEY ) player outplayed himself , and ah go say it again , who’s next ?
So true, he sat down for years and allowed it
Marlon you must be crazy. You were an integral part of the cronyism cycle. You signed off and agreed to all those consultant contracts that you knew had no value and could not be measurable. Now you are talking s**t. You should mot be re-elected because you did not do anything for hhe 8th District that I can see, unless your accomplishments are invisible. So stfu.
why he has no credibility? do not just say so and not say why?
Come with some substance please. Sewerage running in the dam streets of the 8th district. Address that
Webster needs to run the country, not the recent crop of politicians.
I had enough of this double standard by Marlon & a few others including the Governor and the Auditor General. We know they are all working together for years but this is over bearing now. Where are the following audits:
1) On the Governor’s office
2) On the poor performance of the Governor for the past 20 years for subjects under his responsibility.
3) The work and report for the man from the UK that the Governor brought to BVI to review the court system and left before the work was finished, got paid, and did not complete the work nor submitted a report.
4) Audit on all the cash sieged by the Commissioner of Police and cannot be accounted for to this day.
5) Misuse of the police boat to take non-police officers in and out of the territory without approval or documentation.
6) Audit on Commissioner selling police vehicle and no account of the money.
7) Marlon Georgie Hill project that started at $300K but ended up over $1.3million in the crab over run.
8) Audit update on the $40 million over run pier project.
9) Audit update on the missing plane and $8million dollars
10) Audit on poor stewardship of W&S
11) Audit on years of poor stewardship of the Tourist Board especially the New York Office and the management of the sister sister combination.
12) Audit on when the NDP started the sewage project and put in the wrong pipes causing the delay in finishing the projects up to this date.
13) Audit on the CTL building contract and the lack of transparency after Irma to date.
14) Audit on the many loans Marlon gave out to friends and family from Trade after Irma and Maria that the Government had to pay back and is still paying back up to now.
15) Audit on RDA under the Governor with the man that was being paid over $300k a year but did not produce for the money and according to the obligations of the contract.
16) Audit on the Governor having a few UK people hired by RDA making more than $15k a month to do nothing but sit in the UK and attend a meeting a month on zoom.
17) Audit on the many contracts Premier Smith wife had in government and FSC while he was the Premier that we know not the outcome.
18) Audit on a former PS that used their position to set up a millionaire on one of our islands and is now the manager of that enterprise right after they retired as their reward.
19) Audit on Russel many contracts with no outcome seen to date.
I will stop there for now because I see this ongoing exercise as a target on the VIP without any consideration for what they had to face as a country with covid for the past 3 years. I am not a VIP supporter but as someone with sense I can see injustice from a mile & I intend to call it out for what it is which is targeting.
Isnt that a sign of Nepotism ?? Penns Rule!on da beach Plus Uncle!
Marlon was not up in Balsum Ghut for 6 months for touching government money
Marlon was not arrested on foreign soil for fake money in designer’s bag
Marlon did not put up green cloth on the poles around the country at midnight and kneeling prostrate to His Maker and says he believes in democracy obeah
Marlon did not dish out 40 million dollars of SS money to people who claim to be fishers and farmers
Marlon did not put people on boards who had no clue about the departments they were placed to advice
When people are required to produce documents and they refused to do so because they feel entitled it is obvious you give it to the ones who produce the documents
Marlon time will come so stick around. You will be surprised.