There is a chink in the armour of state. Two ministers (we wonder if they are rogue) have broken ranks with the Premier on a planned party for which, so far, over $200K has already, silently, disappeared from the state treasury.
A long letter was written by a third minister in protest but only the two exhibited the courage to lodge their dissatisfaction with the people.
The financial stewardship is questionable given that the government is struggling to balance its 2025 budget estimates.
We can forgive the Financial Secretary for overlooking a number as small as $200K since one so large as $20M fell beneath his notice.
And yet, it must be the missed $20M price tag on the salary increases for civil servants that is playing its part in the unbalanced budget estimates.
It may eventually force a deficit budget unless taxes are raised or draconian measures are taken to ration services to the public.
Anytime now, the taxpayers will be asked to foot the bill, as they always do, although no one has told them anything about the results of the investigation into the gross underestimation by the Financial Secretary.
And since we do not know if the 13 were also beneficiaries of a salary increase, the $20M may balloon. It must, for the retirees have not yet been considered.
King Solomon said “to everything there is a season…. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance.”
What time is it in the BVI?
We usually do not comment on the parties of state simply because when the green tide was in the making, its leader pushed an agenda that centered around ‘youth’ and disparaged ‘age.’
The people agreed to oust the old and bring in the new and the green tide washed in, tsunami strength.
But the leader had no interest in parties. His Achilles heel was prayer. And while the ostentation cost the Territory little to nothing, he, ultimately, paid an exorbitant price for his incongruence of words and deeds.
The way youth enjoys itself is vastly different to the entertainment needs of the more mature.
We may fuss that we cannot afford parties. That cannot be true. Besides, we must cater to all sides of the individual; Social, physical, spiritual, intellectual, cultural. And culture, very often, takes the ‘waste, down’ route.
The first party that was budgeted at $250K, we considered appropriate. The government felt good that it was able to entice American Airlines to come to BVI at a cost to the treasury of $0. This was in contrast to the over $7M spent by the previous administration without realizing a single flight.
The second party, the music fest, (24-26 May) should have been left to the private sector that held its “One VI Music Fest” from 28-29 June. The government underwrote its own music fest and contributed financial resources to the private sector’s.
The cost of the state operated music fest has not been disclosed by the present keeper of the ‘counting house’ although a figure north of $1M is often quoted.
In the Territory, the very last to know the people’s business are the people themselves whose business it is.
Will there be repercussions for the two ministers, one grafted in, who have publicly frowned on the planned party?
Will the pending vote of ‘no confidence in the government’ by His Majesty’s loyal Opposition be influenced by these events?
We do not know.
Regardless of who is advising the Premier, we caution the green tide that once Humpty Dumpty slips off the wall, time, as Cheer discussed in song, cannot be turned back.
The red team fractured into red and blue and as long as they remain divorced, green will reign unless it follows the history of red and then any card can play.
Do our leaders care about the development of the Territory, the interests of the people and their self-actualization or do they care about their own advancement and entertainment needs at the public’s expense?
We are at a loss for words. And we usually are not…
…On Fridays.
Happy Friday!