The minister was at the time a guest of the December 19, 2022, edition of the Umoja show hosted by Cromwell Smith aka Edju Enka on ZBVI 780 AM, where he mentioned that the people will have to make decisions based on those policies, and on who has a better vision for the future of the VI.

“We're six months into a coalition government… a lot of the policy decisions that were made under the last administration are policies that are difficult for you to get out from under. I'm not going to accept the responsibility of those policy decisions in terms of how they have [been] implemented or decided to move forward.” 

He said, however, on the way forward, tough decisions will have to be made regarding a vision for the future of the VI.

“What I would accept is how we move forward and I believe that we're going into the season where we have to make some decisions, the people have to make some decision on who has a clear vision and strategy for the country moving forward.“

'I'm not accepting responsibilities' - Hon Penn

With that, the minister added that for the 3 1/2 years that happened under the last administration, persons will have to give account for the stewardship under that period.

“I will give account for my stewardship, but the reality is that I'm not accepting responsibilities… everyone has to atone for their own sins but what I will say is that the focus has to be on how do we move forward to a true economic sustainability for this country.”

He said economic sustainability includes farming, fishing, or the blue economy, and that countries like Grenada can be used as a model.