Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Conflict Of Interest Delayed Consumer Protection Bill

Conflict Of Interest Delayed Consumer Protection Bill

The long awaited Consumer Protection Bill could have been in place following hurricane Irma in 2017.
According to Premier and Finance Minister, Hon. Andrew Fahie, the then National Democratic Party (NDP) administration deliberately left it to lag behind because of conflict of interest.

The Premier was speaking moments before the Consumer Protection Bill, 2020 was passed in the House of Assembly yesterday, June 8, a moment which has been described as historic. On the same day, the House passed the Trade Commission Act, 2020 which is also a supporting legislation to the Consumer Protection Bill.

"If the people were put in front of personal agendas then this would have already been in place. And let me state clearly it could have been in place since Irma because it was ready from back then it was being discussed, worked on and in 2018 it basically ramp up some more," he charged.

The Premier said that his government did some more work including public meetings and adding an appendix to address the issue of price gouging during disasters and pandemics.

"Yes we did a lot of work since then, but the same way we have come now and said let us put an appendix on to it, a legal way during disasters or pandemic to put in the price gouging, that could have been done then. Nothing legally was stopping it to be done then, except the will to protect the people," the Premier said.

The Finance Minister added, "this Bill was in discussion for 30 years and never was able to move too far, some work done before, but it wasn't able to move too far because of how certain persons were concerned how it would affect their business when they were in the political realm."

Some of the sitting Ministers of government under the former NDP administration were businessmen.

Premier Fahie did not hesitate to thank Hon. Marlon Penn, Opposition Leader, who served as Junior Minister for Trade and Investment under the NDP. He said that Hon. Penn did a lot to push for the bill but his colleagues from all indications did not back him.

"We give him credit but we also know that it was worked on by the past administration for a quite a while but it never came forward. We knew too that a lot of reasons why, one of the main reasons was conflict of interest, stopping the member (Hon.Penn) from bringing forward the bill. But now that has taken care of itself after the February (election)," he said.

Premier Fahie continued, "We can now put the people's interest in front and bring forward the bill and that's why the Leader of the Opposition could have got up so briskly and second it because he knew that finally now his labour would not go in vain. I also want to thank all the other Junior Ministers who worked on it."

The Territory's leader said the public meetings held on the bill were tough but they were able to present a bill that is balanced where both the businesses and consumers will be protected respectively.

He explained that the appendix which will address price gouging and hoarding among other areas had to be added until the substantial bill comes before the House of Assembly.

"We put in an appendix in this Consumer Protection (Bill) that allows during times of disasters, during times of pandemic, like COVID-19, unforeseen times, that when people are most vulnerable some business owners take advantage of that time and take advantage of persons and just carry up their prices without justification or solid foundation," he outlined.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×