Nobody likes complainers, but every government needs them if it is to remain honest, responsive and respected. In the Virgin Islands, complainers have an official voice – Complaints Commissioner Elton Georges – but legislators have not taken action on any of the six special reports he has submitted to them since coming into office three years ago.
The House of Assembly made Mr. Georges’ fifth and sixth special reports public on Feb. 14, and again there has not been any action on the part of legislators, he said this week.
Whenever Mr. Georges investigates a complaint, he tries to have the problem resolved by the department in question. But if there isn’t adequate response from that department, the law requires him to lay a special report before the HOA.
“It must have been under the assumption that the House would do something about it,” Mr. Georges said of the requirement.
The problem, he said, seems to stem from the fact that there’s no protocol for how to process the reports.
“Compound injustice” is what Mr. Georges found in his investigation into one Crafts Alive Village vendor’s complaints, so that’s what he called his fifth special report. Mr. Georges’ other special report focused on a complaint from a real estate professional regarding the Inland Revenue Department.
See the Feb. 23, 2012 edition for full coverage.