Governor John Rankin chaired a June 23 Cabinet meeting with all members present at the Financial Services Commission’s Conference Room in Pasea, according to a summary provided by the Cabinet Office and Gazetted on July 9.

The summary also included an addendum to a previous summary of Cabinet’s May 28 meeting, at which all members were present except Transportation, Works and Utilities Minister Kye Rymer, who was on personal leave.

May 28 addendum

During the May 28 meeting, Cabinet took the following actions, according to the addendum.

1. Reviewed the bid evaluation report submitted by the Central Tenders Board Technical Committee, which was approved by the CTB; accepted the recommendation to obtain a credit facility from Republic Bank Limited in the amount of $17,250,000 in 19 equal quarterly payments of $700,000, with a final payment of $3,950,000 being the remaining one-quarter of the loan amount; and decided that:

a. further negotiations be held with Republic Bank Limited to better define one of the presented options to ensure that government continues its prudent debt management strategy; and

b. the financial secretary instruct the Attorney General’s Chambers to prepare the resolution for borrowing of $17,250,000 for a new loan facility from Republic Bank Limited, for consideration at the next sitting of the House of Assembly.

June 23 meeting

At the June 23 meeting, Cabinet took the following actions, according to the Cabinet Office summary.

1. Reviewed and accepted the evaluation report submitted by the Central Tenders Board Technical Sub-committee, which was approved by the CTB on May 19; accepted the recommendation to award Island Services (BVI) Ltd. the contract for the supply and installation of furniture for the Ministry of Finance offices at RFG Place in the amount of $247,871.77.

2. Reviewed and considered the Strategic Plan for Delivery of the HOA Reconfiguration Project and decided that:

a. procurement and implementation of the HOA Reconfiguration Project, being a project that is valued over $100,000 and is proposed to include fractioning of the works, be procured and implemented in accordance with Clause 4.4.3(2) of the approved Policy on Procurement in Emergency, Disasters, Pandemics and Catastrophic Situations; and

b. the HOA Reconfiguration Project should be implemented using a series of petty contracts in accordance with the strategic plan presented.

3. Noted that Farmers and Fishers Week 2021 was held between April 25 and May 1, and noted the summary of the activities that took place for this year’s observance.

4. Reviewed the recommendations of the Board of Immigration in respect of applicants for certificates of residence and granted certificates to 189 people in accordance with Section 18(1) of the Immigration and Passport Act.

5. Considered and approved:

a. the Covid-19 Small Vessel Entry Protocol to facilitate travel to the territory on board marine vessels that are carrying fully vaccinated people and that measure less than 78 feet in length overall; and

b. the Covid-19 Water Taxi Protocol to provide practical guidance for the safe operation of VI-based water taxis with fully vaccinated people — noting that it is not intended to enable foreign-based water taxis to conduct commercial activity in the territory at this time; and decided that the Ministry of Health and Social Development instruct the Attorney General’s Chambers to draft the necessary amendments to the Public Health (Covid-19 Control and Suppression Measures) Order and any other relevant legislation to give effect to the agreed policy changes.

6. Approved “a number of ” non-belonger land holding licence applications and an amendment to an existing charge on the lease of Crown land for commercial use.

This information was published in a summary Gazetted on July 9.