‘The people will not back down’, says protest organiser
The organiser of yesterday’s protest outside the House of Assembly (HOA), Cindy Rosan-Jones, said the people will not back down and will be paying keen attention to the decision taken by the government regarding the payment of Julian Willock’s legal fees.
Protestors had opted to remain outside the HOA until the matter of Willock’s fees were decided on. But when proceedings began, Premier Andrew Fahie moved a motion in the House to push the debate further back on parliament’s order paper.
Rosan-Jones described the motion as as a ploy to frustrate the people. However, she said she was pleased with the effort of the protestors who did not back down. Some people had remained until 7 pm before leaving the premises.
“Overall, I’m happy about how the day turned out. After they couldn’t get us stopped from coming on to the premises, I guess the next stop was to frustrate us by changing out the items. However, we will be here when they decide to call the action. And even if we aren’t here if the actions are not what the people want, we will be taking the next step to advise the territory accordingly,” Rosan-Jones stated.
The social activist also said she managed to speak with the Premier and the Deputy Speaker of the House, Neville Smith on the matter.
She said based on that dialogue, her impression is that they will vote for the government to foot Willock’s hefty legal fees of up to $121,000, which were generated after he (Willock) filed a court injunction against attorneys of the Commission of Inquiry then later withdrew.
“I had a long conversation with the Premier. I feel like he is leaning towards voting yes, although he said he would do what the people wants. I made it clear to him that if he pays attention, there is overwhelming support of this not becoming a reality by the people. He said he knows that but then he changed to do what the people want within principle. So, we’ll see how it works out. As far as I am concerned, the people have spoken,” Rosan-Jones said.
“Also, I spoke to Honourable Neville Smith and I kind of have the feeling that he will vote yes [in paying Willock’s legal fee] because his thing was to ask me why they should not vote yes,” she added.
Rosan-Jones described the motion as as a ploy to frustrate the people. However, she said she was pleased with the effort of the protestors who did not back down. Some people had remained until 7 pm before leaving the premises.
“Overall, I’m happy about how the day turned out. After they couldn’t get us stopped from coming on to the premises, I guess the next stop was to frustrate us by changing out the items. However, we will be here when they decide to call the action. And even if we aren’t here if the actions are not what the people want, we will be taking the next step to advise the territory accordingly,” Rosan-Jones stated.
The social activist also said she managed to speak with the Premier and the Deputy Speaker of the House, Neville Smith on the matter.
She said based on that dialogue, her impression is that they will vote for the government to foot Willock’s hefty legal fees of up to $121,000, which were generated after he (Willock) filed a court injunction against attorneys of the Commission of Inquiry then later withdrew.
“I had a long conversation with the Premier. I feel like he is leaning towards voting yes, although he said he would do what the people wants. I made it clear to him that if he pays attention, there is overwhelming support of this not becoming a reality by the people. He said he knows that but then he changed to do what the people want within principle. So, we’ll see how it works out. As far as I am concerned, the people have spoken,” Rosan-Jones said.
“Also, I spoke to Honourable Neville Smith and I kind of have the feeling that he will vote yes [in paying Willock’s legal fee] because his thing was to ask me why they should not vote yes,” she added.
