Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Don’t Use PAC For Personal Vendetta

Don’t Use PAC For Personal Vendetta

Government minister, Hon. Dr Natalio D. Wheatley is cautioning the opposition-led Public Accounts Committee (PAC) about using its powers for witch-hunting and personal vendettas against persons they have ran against in the 2019 general elections.
The Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture and Representative of the Seventh District was at the time speaking during the debate of the Motion to have Hon. Alvera Maduro-Caines, Sixth District Representative appointed a member of PAC to represent the government.

“I know my Hon. colleague will trumpet that message that we cannot use such committees for personal vendettas and to try to victimize persons, for instance who we ran against in the elections and things like that,” he said during the House of Assembly yesterday, February 27.

He added, “It (PAC) has a very important function and we have to ensure that it sticks to that function. And I am confident that Hon. Alvera Maduro-Caines has the integrity and she have the purest of intention to ensure that be the case.”

Hon. Marlon Penn, Opposition Leader and Representative for the Eight District, who is also the Chairman of PAC quickly sought to shut down the comments made by Wheatley.

“…It is important that the integrity of the committee remains intact…The assertion that the committee is being used, one Member said to attack or to go after persons who might run,” he said, but Hon. Wheatley interjected.

“I made no assertion that the committee is made to attack anyone. I said it is an important committee and we have to defend against it so it does not happen. I didn’t say it is already happening…that we don’t have witch-hunts and political victimization,” Minister Wheatley clarified.

The Opposition Leader said the Minister inferred that PAC is being used to carry out witch-hunts.

He told the House that since the committee commenced its meetings, members have gone through a manual which will be used as a guideline to probe projects and ensure government is accountable.

“We have had meetings with the Attorney General; the internal audit to look at the projects and to discuss amongst ourselves the entire body, the approach we are going to take in assessing government spending whether it’s the present government or past government,” he explained.

Penn said that it is important that he dismisses such assertions.

“So, I want to dispel the inference or notion that somehow this committee under my chairmanship would be used for any witch-hunt,” he assured.

The motion was passed to allow Hon. Maduro-Caines to sit on the committee.

At a press conference in January, Penn told reporters that the committee is set to begin its first set of meetings in February where it will probe government spending, including $2M on the 2019 Emancipation Festival.

He also mentioned controversial projects under the former National Democratic Party (NDP) administration which he was part of, including the Elmore Stoutt High School Wall Project and BVI Airways deal.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×