A proposal to give the governor sweeping new powers over areas including customs, immigration and financial investigations has been roundly condemned by both sides of the House of Assembly.
HOA members acknowledged last Thursday that reforms are needed to shore up security in the territory, but the premier announced plans to write London in opposition to certain recommendations in the second volume of the law-enforcement review by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
“Let me say without a shadow of a doubt that these recommendations are just recommendations, and I as leader of this administration, leader of the government, categorically reject a number of these recommendations — the chief among them various law enforcement bodies which have been devolved to the local government sitting under the governor, and the other recommendations … speaking about closing down ports and hurting our economy and rejecting local applicants,” Premier Natalio “Sowande” told the HOA last Thursday while closing the debate on the United Kingdom-funded review. “Madam Speaker, we can’t accept these things. We categorically reject them.”
Guv tight-lipped
In an exclusive interview with the Beacon the same day, Governor Daniel Pruce attempted to sidestep the mounting controversy.
“I’d suggest if you want commentary on the premier’s comments you should ask the premier,” he said when asked for his views on the criticisms aired in the HOA.
Mr. Pruce did, however, acknowledge that the 375 recommendations in the second volume of the review, which was made public on April 8, need to be discussed further.
“Now that it’s been laid in the House, there’s been a debate, and I’m sure there will continue to be, and rightly so, a very open public decision,” he said.
Letter
Thursday in the HOA, the premier called for a letter to Mr. Pruce to be drafted and signed by all House members to indicate their rejection of some of the review’s key recommendations.
The letter, Mr. Wheatley said, will also be sent to UK Overseas Territories Minister Stephen Doughty and Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
He announced the letter after a lengthy debate spanning two days last week, where House members were united in condemning any move to give the governor new powers.
On Monday, the premier followed up with a statement outlining his government’s plan for the way forward and calling for a “modern partnership” with the UK.
“The report itself has several practical, detailed suggestions and observations that we will consider,” he said. “But it also has many that we must reject categorically.”
He added that the report is based largely on 2023 fieldwork and fails to take into account extensive progress made since then to tackle crime.
“Neither can [my government] accept the overarching premise that we must cede more power to the UK government, eroding our self-governance,” Mr. Wheatley said. “The governor already has constitutional responsibility for the security of the territory, which is the subject of criticism in this report. To accept this premise would also represent submitting to colonial overreach and represent a retrograde step for democracy in the British Virgin Islands.”
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‘Independent agency’
Last Thursday, the governor would not be drawn when asked if the report’s recommendations amounted to a power grab by London as suggested by Mr. Wheatley and other HOA members on both sides of the aisle.
“The report is from an independent agency,” Mr. Pruce told the Beacon. “Their sole function is certainly independent of myself. And their brief for this report, as is the case in the United Kingdom, where police forces in particular are subject to this sort of assessment, is to look at the whole breadth of how current systems operate; to identify areas that they feel could be improved — issues that need to be addressed — and then to set that out in black and white for the relevant agencies to consider and respond to.”
The governor added that he is seeking “collaboration” on the issues raised in the review.
“I think the opportunity for us all to move forward is to draw from those recommendations and collaborate across agencies,” he said. “Collaboration between the governor, the Governor’s Office, the premier, the premier’s team. The UK can support us.”
Prison visit
Mr. Pruce, who has responsibility for security matters, made the comments during a visit to His Majesty’s Prison at Balsam Ghut, which he invited the Beacon to observe. During the visit, he explained recent improvements to the facility that he said resulted from actions taken pursuant to recommendations in the first volume of the law-enforcement review, which was released last year and includes shorter-term reforms.
“I come up here pretty regularly, and each time I come I’m impressed by the progress that’s being made,” he said, adding, “In terms of the management of the prison, some of the longstanding challenges are being resolved, such as locks and keys and radios.”
Some support
Though HOA members rejected some of the review’s key recommendations last Thursday, they readily accepted many others, including a call for police radios and recommendations related to the treatment of vulnerable people in the territory.
“Some of the recommendations are worthy recommendations,” said Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn. “Some of them are. And those things that we can improve upon, those things that we can implement, let us try to get them done, and get them done as quickly as we possibly can. But there are others, Madam Speaker, that are quite problematic for us.”
Lack of a budget plan
Many members also took issue with the review’s lack of a clear budget or funding plan to implement the extensive recommendations.
“Where in that document does it lay out a budget that this is what we contributing or this is recommended as a contribution?” asked opposition member Stacy Mather. “I don’t see an appendix in the document saying that. So the goal of the document was just to find everything that wrong and say, ‘You know what? Solution A. And we stopping right there. Put everything under the governor.’”
Junior Minister of Financial Services and Economic Development Lorna Smith also criticised the report’s recommendation for the governor to “recruit suitably experienced and skilled expatriate candidates” to head the proposed Anti-Corruption Agency Investigation and Intelligence Unit and to serve as financial investigators and general investigators.
The report notes that outside expertise is needed in these areas in part because the territory’s small population “makes it likely that local investigators would have to recuse themselves from some investigations, as they would likely involve friends and acquaintances.”
But Ms. Smith was not impressed with this reasoning.
“This for me is perhaps the most repugnant of this report,” she said.
Government backbencher Karl Dawson spoke similarly, calling the recommendation’s exclusion of Virgin Islanders “heart-wrenching.”
“In the actual specification and qualification for the role, it excludes the people for whom these rules are being put into place,” Mr. Dawson said.
He also noted various references in the review to UK “interests.” “I’m not [saying] that the UK doesn’t have an interest, but I’m thinking, I’m wondering if that is not the overriding interest rather than the interest of the people of the Virgin Islands and our growth and prosperity,” Mr. Dawson said.
Closing ports
Many House members also criticised the report’s recommendation to close some ports to international traffic as part of efforts to boost border security and staffing efficiency. The report recommends that customs status and immigration authorisation be revoked from Auguste George Airport in Anegada; the Dog Hole ferry terminal in Jost Van Dyke; and Gun Creek and the Taddy Bay International Airport on Virgin Gorda.
“What bothers me is the abrasiveness of the definiteness of ‘shut it down,’” Mr. Mather said of this recommendation.
Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sharie de Castro said that HOA members were united against this recommendation.
“There are four at-large reps in this House and there are nine district representatives, and none of us will sit while our ports of entry are closed,” she said, adding, “It’s not just closing a port: It speaks to connectivity; it speaks to economic resilience and development because of, you know, our tourism and financial services industries. But it also speaks to local livelihoods.”
Eleven of the 13 elected HOA members attended the meeting last Thursday, and all 11 contributed to the debate last week.
Tourism and Culture Junior Minister Luce Hodge-Smith and Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer were out of the territory on planned travel.
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