Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

HOA recesses abruptly amidst appeal over bill’s ‘deadline’ thrust

HOA recesses abruptly amidst appeal over bill’s ‘deadline’ thrust

Earnest pleas by Fourth District Representative Mark Vanterpool, warning against rushing a new bill through the House of Assembly (HOA) seemed to have found fertile ground yesterday when the HOA was abruptly recessed for the next two weeks.
The bill in question is the Register of Interests Act (ROIA) 2022 which serves to replace the existing law. When any new bill is introduced its goes through three stages known as ‘readings’ before it passes. These readings usually take place in more than one sitting to allow legislators to properly digest and debate the bill. But in an atypical fashion yesterday, the government decided to move the bill through the House by doing all three readings in one day.

But while debating the bill, Vanterpool made it clear that in his view the legislation needed public consultation before passing into law. He argued that there were items the bill contained that warranted not only more careful research by members but closer legal attention before it was rushed through the House.

“I am absolutely not in support of this bill being passed today without it having public discourse,” the Fourth District Representative said while offering his support, in principle, for the bill.

The veteran legislator said this rush of the ROIA is because of what he described as a “deadline story“ but noted that any apparent deadline could not be first met without due consideration.

Vanterpool was seemingly referring to a section of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) reform proposal recently agreed upon between the BVI government and the United Kingdom (UK), that the amended ROI Act will be passed by June 30 at the latest.

“A bill like this being passed in one day, in its three stages – first, second and third readings – is not fair to the public, not fair to those in here, not fair to those outside there, not fair to the public in general who need to be able to weigh in on the contents of this bill, even if we do changes in committee stage (the stage at which legislators gather to privately review the full bill and possibly make amendments),“ Vanterpool said.

He continued: “It cannot be passed today because of a deadline issue.”

“This whole issue of deadlines and binding the House of Assembly to conform to these deadlines begs the question to me as to what and where is the authority of the House of Assembly,” Vanterpool said. “Maybe that’s gone out the door, but it begs the question.”

The Register of Interests Act is a record kept of the financial interests of parliamentarians. Its purpose is to give them the mechanism to publicly declare any private interests which may conflict or may be perceived to conflict with their public duties.

The register became a focal point during the COI as it was revealed that House members were in large part not complying with the requirements to file declarations of their interests annually and on a timely basis.
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
×