Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Whistleblower legislation brought to HoA

Whistleblower legislation brought to HoA

As the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) Government continues to put systems in place for transparency and good governance, in keeping with its campaign promises, the Whistleblower Act, 2021 has been brought to parliament.

The bill, which was among the suite of legislation brought to the Sixth Sitting of the Third Session of the Fourth House of Assembly (HoA) at the Save the Seed Energy Centre in Duff's Bottom, Tortola today, March 4, 2021, received its Introduction and First Reading.

The sponsor of the bill, Premier and Minister of Finance, Honourable Andrew A. Fahie (R1), said the Whistleblower Act “allows any public officer or even in the private [sector] to be able to report it and not be penalised by the employer.

"As a matter of fact, there is a reward for the person if the information that they have brought to the officials is of worth..."

Premier and Minister of Finance, Honourable Andrew A. Fahie  has said the Whistleblower Act “allows any public officer or even in the private [sector] to be able to report it and not be penalised by the employer.


Campaign promise kept


The legislation, a campaign promise by the Fahie Administration, will allow persons to report wrongdoing of persons in authority.

He further explained: “It allows you now in the organisation to be able to flag anything that is deemed to be not above board, but the system allows due process to allow to see if the complaint is so or not.”

Premier Fahie said it was always the intention of Government to bring forward the legislation but it did not come sooner due to urgent attention having to be paid to legislation relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had challenges bringing it [Act] forward because of the need, emphasis and attention that the Attorney General’s Office had to play to a lot of health acts and amendments etc., to help us combat COVID-19,” he said.

Premier Fahie noted; however, that Whistleblowers who opt to bring information without evidence against another will be penalised.

Good for Territory


The Leader of Government Business said the Whistleblower legislation is good for the territory.

“It is time these kinds of good governance reach to us, and we have done this on our own, we have not been asked to do so, we have not been forced to do so, we have not been instructed to do so, we have not been coerced to do so. This government is doing so because of the promises it made during the campaign and since in office,” he said.

According to a post-Cabinet meeting decision chaired by His Excellency, the Governor Mr John Rankin, CMG on February 3, 2021, at the Financial Services Commission's Conference Room in Pasea Estate, the bill seeks to make provisions for the manner in which individuals may in the public interest, disclose information that relates to unlawful or other illegal conduct or corrupt practices of others.

The bill will also provide for the protection against victimisation of persons who make these disclosures.

Another bill to foster transparency in governance, the Contractor General Act, 2021, also received its First Reading today.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×