The push to complete Commission of Inquiry recommendations by the end of August has led to “contentious” debates in Cabinet and the House of Assembly, but the Virgin Islands government is nevertheless on track to meet the deadline, according to Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley.
During a Friday press conference, Dr. Wheatley said government ministers and HOA members had been meeting “almost daily” to push through the governance reforms.
Governor Daniel Pruce recently extended the completion deadline until Aug. 31, after his predecessor warned in January that the VI government was moving too slowly.
On Friday, the premier — who has consistently defended his administration’s progress on the reforms — said work had started on all 50 recommendations agreed by the VI and United Kingdom governments following the release of the COI report in April 2022. He added that 35 of the initiatives — 70 percent — had been completed.
The rest, he said, are “actively progressing” with “substantial work” completed on them.
Legislation
As examples of his government’s progress, Dr. Wheatley said that during June and July legislation had been approved in such areas as integrity in public life, statutory boards policy, public assistance and the non-institutional grant insurance framework.
“The workload has been quite heavy and demanding, with both Cabinet and the House of Assembly meeting as often as necessary, almost daily, to implement the recommendations by the deadline,” he said. “As of today, we are on track with our plan.” Referring to the pace of change, Dr. Wheatley said, “I think we are doing that thanks to very robust and sometimes contentious but necessary discussions and debates in both Cabinet and the House of Assembly.”
Pruce’s review
Mr. Pruce, who is responsible for delivering some of the reforms that are not yet complete, struck a conciliatory note when he released his first quarterly review on the situation in May.
This came after his predecessor, John Rankin, called for greater powers from London in a bid to speed up the process.
Pushing the original May deadline out until August, Mr. Pruce said such additional powers were not yet necessary, but he stated he would consider the matter again in September.
