Wheatley commended! Gov’t reappoints Higher Education chairman hired under NDP
Leader of the Opposition Marlon Penn has commended Education Minister Dr Natalio Wheatley for displaying maturity in his decision to reappoint Professor Arthur Richardson as the Chairman of the Higher Education Licensing Board.
Professor Richardson was previously appointed as Chair to the Board under NDP Administration in 2017.
Penn’s comments came during Thursday’s sitting House of Assembly when Dr Wheatley moved a motion to reappoint Professor Richardson as chairman.
“I commend the minister for his maturity, for ensuring that he allows Dr Richardson to continue the work that he and his team started on the board and I look forward to us fulfilling our mandate to ensuring that we have established medical schools in broadening and deepening the opportunities for Virgin Islanders within this territory,” Penn stated.
Penn added: “Dr Richardson has my full support … When you have good people don’t matter where you met them [or] how they got there. If they’re good people, you leave good people to do good work and Dr Richardson is one such person.”
A mature government
In concluding the debate on the motion, Dr Wheatley said his government is all about hiring the best persons for any role in the territory regardless of their political affiliation.
He said: “Once you can do the work this government under the leadership of Honourable Andrew Fahie has work for you, and I don’t know if I’ve seen a government as mature as this one led by Honourable Andrew Fahie in making use of talents across the board regardless of our relationships politically, etcetera.”
“It’s beyond us. It is about the people of the territory and Dr Richardson has done good work and we commend him for that and he will certainly continue,” the minister added.
He brings a wealth of experience
Dr Wheatley also pointed to the wealth of experience that Professor Richardson brings to the Board as the chairman.
“He’s a member of the HLSCC Board of Governors, he’s someone who has a great deal of experience in higher education servicing in the Education Department at the University of the West Indies for many years,” Dr Wheatley stated.
“I know him as well as a fellow member of the Lions Club, he’s been highly commended for his work on the Education Licensing Board and we wish that he continues within that role to help usher in some of these institutions that we have showing interest in the Virgin Islands,” Dr Wheatley explained.
The Board also includes Deputy Chairman Dr Carl Dawson, Accountant Andy Bickerton, entrepreneurs John Black and Mitsy Ellis-Simpson, and legal practitioner Nelson Samuel.
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Only when the person is selected is an NDP appointee it is okay for Marlon. Total foolishness.
What does a capable chairman has to do with whether someone is an NDP or not? This administration cleared out e every other board, your telling me that none of them had capable people? You “clearly” missed the point, with your simple thinking.
Dr. Natalio Wheatley keep up the good work.
Our waste of time 8th District Representative here talking about what NDP did and taking credit for it so he has to be credited for joining with the NDP to take our $8million from East End sewage project money to put in the Ports Project in the sea.
If he a waste of time imagine us in the 4th is garbage we dealing with… Smh
Why everything out you people is NDP this NDP that? What NDP was to do with the Chairman? You people just sickening. This administration trying to stifle district 8th. I see them pave from Sophie Bay and stop by the police station left out district 8. They believe making people of district 8 suffer is going to help them beat smurf?
The people of the East will deal with Ahyou. No amount of blogging p!$$ is going to change that, with this tired Sewage money story. What has the VIP done regarding to sewage or anything for district 8 since taking office with 3 members claiming they from East End. I’m waiting to hear, we will wet or fingers waiting on them.
Marlon try go sit down.
Hon Marlon Penn, leader of the Opposition, D-8 rep and 3rd time legislator, says :” I commend the minister for his maturity, for ensuring that he allows Dr Richardson to continue the work that he and his team started on the board and I look forward to us fulfilling our mandate to ensuring that we have established medical schools in broadening and deepening the opportunities for Virgin Islanders within this territory,” Penn stated. What a ringing endorsement!
Did he intend to use the word maturity to commend Deputy Premier, D-7 Rep and MEC Hon Dr. Natalio “Sowande Uhuru” Wheatley was it just a Freudian slip. If it were the former, perhaps Hon Penn needs to be more selective and deliberate in his word choice. To me, his maturity word choice can imply that Hon Wheatley was not so mature in the past. Off line, he may need to have a conversation with his cuz.
Just pay attention to the trend of when Marlon has anything positive to say. He is all about politics. At least the Premier could put politics aside to support Mark for the contract for the supplying of food. If the tables were turned Marlon would have been complaining about why a VIP member supplied food.
Of course the Premier would support it, he’s the the one that took the man stuff out of his supermarket. You people are grasping for straws now.
You VIP cronies are so blinded by politics that the Premier has or country in the gutter and your here with this blind allegiance. Continue to twiddle your thumbs while our economy burn.
Is this the same Andrew who was leader of the opposition and was on the radio every second on the form government spreading misinformation? All of sudden he went down to the old river Jordan and came up clean? You people are hilarious.
You right just pay attention to Marlon hypocrisy. I wonder if full moon out.
Sounds so strange one grown man calling another grown mans political actions “mature”.
This mr Richardson is a old school person asked anyone that worked with him. He is not a modern day guy.he is from the old school. He is what we called old school professor. He is very knowledgeable but again not in this time. The bvi needs to move away from these time immemorial kind of teaching thats why we are lagging behind so many other small islands. This is not a man for this time.
Experience is always the best way for certain position… But another direction, another thinking, Fresh ideas. I think is needed, a complete redo, New members with different, or similar or even More experience can be found within.
‘Commend for maturity’. Take it with a grain of salt and one eye open up. Clearly it is not a commendation …
Great job Honourable Wheatley.
Maturity!!!! Is the Hon M. Penn saying that that Hon N. Wheatley was immature in the past? This sound like an inadvertent slap with the face of the hand then with the back of the hand.