Why does nothing ever start on time in the Virgin Islands? House of Assembly, concerts, meetings, church, contracts. In all my years, the only event to always (in the past) start on time was the high school concerts. Unfortunately, this has also fallen by the wayside the last few years. I used to think it was good training for the kids to get used to punctuality in later life, but I guess that’s not going to happen now.

Now-Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton made a pledge during the election campaign. He said that in previous Houses he and the speaker were always present ahead of time, and that he was going to make sure that the new House starts on time. Bravo, and good luck with that. The clerk of the House should keep a timekeeper diary and publish it after every session. That should shame some of them into moving faster.

If you can’t trust the most important aspect of our society to be punctual, no wonder the populace thinks it’s okay to be tardy.

In the United Kingdom Parliament, you will never see the prime minister’s questions being even one minute late. They happen at noon on a Wednesday, cum war, floods, disasters, resignations.

Remember, the first business of our new House is supposed to be the rescinding or modifying of the “greedy bill.”

 

Census

The Central Statistics Office and its staff have only had 14 years to correct the disaster of the previous census, but they seem to think they can just rush in with a new system without a dummy run. Admittedly, it is notoriously difficult, with our diverse topography, to ensure all people and properties are covered, especially when many properties are only occupied parts of the year, which may not coincide with the census dates.

But we know that many properties were not canvassed last time, even in easily accessible areas, and to get a true picture they must do better this time. Also, they should get the full cooperation of the public, especially in multi-occupancy properties. Anyone seen running out the back door is probably here illegally.

 

Fire engines

I hope the airport fire engine is kept in good working order. It is an absolute disgrace that the East End unit is not operable, apparently due to lack of funds to buy spare parts.

Budgets are only guidelines, you know, and the depletion of projected funds should not stop either operating units, or the financial department from providing finance for obviously important equipment.

Does the fault lie with the fire department or the higher-ups? After all, they can easily cough up $250,000 “towards” a free concert. I say “towards” because that is what the premier said, indicating that whoever is organising it is going to need more money from somewhere.

 

Belongerhip

The revelation that there are now more than 2,000 people awaiting clearance of their residency or belonger applications, up from 1,000 a while back, shows that our government has little true intention of fully complying with the Commission of Inquiry recommendations in this area. Even after all this time since the COI, it seems there is only one person dealing with applications, and on a non-digital paperwork system. There must be enough surplus staff on the government payroll that some could be transferred — and get Government Information Services and/or the Department of Information Technology to earn their keep by getting an online system set up. I believe there is a similar problem with the issuance of work permits.

 

Interests register

Fully opening the legislators’ Register of Interests to the public without onerous restrictions is another recommendation that could easily be cleared off the list. What do members have to hide? And why do online commenters keep calling for a register of the governor’s interests? It is the behaviour of our own officials that is hurting us, and we should concentrate on setting our house in order. The governor is right to subtly suggest further action if things don’t move faster.

Meanwhile, I see the previous speaker is following my lead from last week and demanding government explain exactly why they are not paying due increments.

 

Dangerous hill

If you look at the Sophie Bay Hill from the seaside, you will see that the road is seriously undermined. With the proliferation of trucks queuing up to go over the edge, it is only a matter of time before there is a large-scale collapse and our main route to the airport will be closed for months.

I have also been wondering about American Airlines’ proposed timetables. Have they forgotten that during the tourist off-season, which we are more or less in now, it is residents who want to travel? So they could probably continue flights year-round, expensive though tickets are. The entry of another airline on the route would bring prices down.

 

Marketplace

The new marketplace in Road Town remains virtually empty, despite the city manager insisting all booths have been allocated.

She now says it was never intended to be only a farming market. So what then? Another Crafts Alive Village? Just across the road is a thriving market which appears to have no intention of renting booths over there.

One booth is reserved for fishers. So where are they? Does the Anegada boat know that’s where they are supposed to go?