"The light that comes from wisdom never goes out"
The Premier’s Office — which currently oversees 11 statutory bodies — chose board members through an informal process that typically didn’t employ vacancy announcements, interviews, background checks, or conflict-of-interest reviews, …
Though representatives for the Attorney General’s Chambers have repeatedly complained that the government lacks the time and resources to keep up with information requests from the Commission of Inquiry, Commissioner …
Continue reading “Government blasted for ‘massive’ response on Covid grants”
The board of directors for the Social Security Board was mostly empty for about five months in early 2020, but leaders couldn’t offer a clear explanation for that fact last …
As we’ve said before, the current government’s 2019 decision to revoke all six appointed members of the Climate Change Trust Fund board was a huge mistake. The failure to replace …
Continue reading “EDITORIAL: Premier dropped the ball on climate change fund”
Speaker of the House Julian Willock and Deputy Speaker Neville Smith have withdrawn their request for an injunction to prevent three Commission of Inquiry lawyers from working in the territory …
The Commission of Inquiry into alleged government corruption continues to be frustrated by government’s delays in providing certain evidence, Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom said Monday as hearings restarted after a …
Continue reading “Government, COI still arguing over information delays”
Less than two months after the Virgin Islands Party came to power in the February 2019 general election, all six private-sector members of the Climate Change Trust Fund board received …
Continue reading “Climate fund has never benefited from eco-levy”
The process for appointing members to the two statutory boards within the Ministry of Health and Social Development lacks transparency, as ministry officials do not advertise for the positions and …
Asked recently how much the government is paying the law firm Withersworldwide for representation during the ongoing Commission of Inquiry, Premier Andrew Fahie did not provide an exact figure. But …
After taking a month-long break from holding hearings, the United Kingdom’s Commission of Inquiry is set to resume the process early next month. Then-Governor Gus Jaspert announced the inquiry in …
Continue reading “Commission of Inquiry team returning to VI”
The Elmore Stoutt High School perimeter wall project, which has been investigated extensively by the Commission of Inquiry in recent months, was the focus of the last two hearings the …
Continue reading “Officials: Ministry was aware of ESHS wall overruns”
After BVI Airports Authority Managing Director Clive Smith testified before the Commission of Inquiry for a little over an hour on Monday, COI Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom ended the hearing …
Continue reading “Commissioner of Inquiry asks airport boss to resubmit his affidavit”
The Commission of Inquiry called House of Assembly Clerk Phyllis Evans to testify on July 14, asking her why incomplete applications for pandemic aid were accepted, how ministers decide who …
Continue reading “Clerk: HOA was ‘overwhelmed’ with Covid applications”
To investigate claims of overspending, potential conflicts of interest, and a lack of oversight on the unfinished Sea Cows Bay Harbour Development Project, the Commission of Inquiry called opposition member …
After securing a six-month extension to submit the Commission of Inquiry’s report to Governor John Rankin, Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom announced on July 14 that his team would pause the …
Wendell Gaskin, a former deputy financial secretary who represented the Finance Ministry on the BVI Ports Authority Board during the time of the troubled cruise pier project said that until …
Continue reading “Ex-auditor grilled about claims he thwarted auditor”
The Commission of Inquiry held a directions hearing on July 8 to address what Commissioner Sir Gary Hickinbottom called the “disorganised and unhelpful” disclosure of documents from the government’s Inquiry …
Continue reading “IRU, COI square off on ‘disorganised’ evidence”
The territory’s procurement rules are “lacking” in areas like accountability and transparency, but the government is working on legislative reform designed to tackle this problem, Ministry of Finance Projects Director …
Heads of government from the Caribbean Community said last week that the organisation continues to support the Virgin Islands government as the United Kingdom-led independent Commission of Inquiry into possible …
The Commission of Inquiry questioned former Premier Dr. Orlando Smith last week about belongerships that Cabinet allegedly awarded improperly just before the start of his 2011- 2019 tenure as premier. …
Continue reading “COI interrogates former premier on belongership”
Several residents who applied for government assistance during the pandemic received multiple grants from different stimulus initiatives, with one person receiving $29,000 in stimulus funding on top of a $20,000 …
Continue reading “Auditor slams ‘abusive’ stimulus distribution”
Acting Financial Secretary Jeremiah Frett and his predecessor Glenroy Forbes were questioned on Tuesday by the Commission of Inquiry about a topic they know well: money and how it was …
Continue reading “Financial secretaries help track the money”
In 2015, the Internal Audit Department discovered that someone had presented receipts for cash payments of almost $265,000 to the Customs Department for importing fuel at Port Purcell, but this …
The Customs Department’s more-than-40-year-old Partial Payments Programme resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue between 1996 and 2019, the public learned when the Commission of Inquiry questioned …
Continue reading ““Partial payments” perk has cost the Customs Department more than $490,000″
The documents that Speaker of the House Julian Willock provided to reporters on June 30 did not vindicate him from breaching the Register of Interests Act as he claimed, Commissioner …
Continue reading “Commissioner: Willock documents are no defence”
