When Communications and Works Minister Mark Vanterpool took office in 2011, the territory was on the brink of losing its cruise ship business, he told the House of Assembly on Tuesday.

 

He was moving to debate the auditor general’s cruise pier report, which is sharply critical of Mr. Vanterpool and the BVI Ports Authority over their handling of the pier expansion.

The minister defended his actions, saying that after years of discussion and planning for increasing ship sizes but no pier expansion, “all” the cruise pier companies were telling him that they assumed the Virgin Islands was no longer interested in being a cruise ship destination.

In short, he added, government had to act quickly to avoid a crisis, which was why the cruise pier project wasn’t tendered publicly.

“While I appreciate the auditor’s general suggestion … in the context of what I’m talking about, Madam Speaker, it was not expedient,” Mr. Vanterpool said.

He added that successive governments have been faced with this problem in the past, and that “in certain circumstances” and “in the best interests of the people,” it’s appropriate for government ministers to bypass the tendering process.

“Cabinets make decisions. It is right,” he said. “There are times when they have to, and they do.”

Mr. Vanterpool said that he would be “taking his time to set the record straight” on various statements from the audit, bringing out Cabinet papers, assessments and reports that he said government used to make its decisions as it moved through the project, which is now in construction after numerous delays.

“I don’t think these were given to the auditor general,” he said of several documents, “and that’s sad.”

After Mr. Vanterpool made his lengthy motion but before any other legislators made any contributions to the debate, the House took its lunch break.

The HOA is also scheduled to debate a recent report by the Opposition-led Public Accounts Committee, which echoes many of the auditor general’s criticisms of the government’s cruise pier project.

Later in this HOA session, lawmakers are scheduled to debate a new Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, a Mutual Legal Assistance (Tax Matters) Act, a Mental Health Act and a Quarantine Act.

See the July 24, 2014 edition for full coverage.

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