The UK is poised to impose a form of direct rule over the British Virgin Islands (BVI) after the Caribbean territory’s premier was arrested in Miami on suspicion of drug running and a commission of inquiry found rampant failings in governance.
BVI Premier Andrew Fahie was due to appear in court in Miami on Friday, a day after he was arrested by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in an elaborate sting operation that also snared the managing director of the BVI Ports Authority and her son.
Just hours before Fahie’s court appearance, the UK-appointed commission of inquiry — launched last year — reported on widespread abuses, including millions of dollars of government funds that were spent each year by politicians and ministries without proper process.
Photo: EPA-EFE
In its highly critical final report, the commission led by Judge Gary Hickinbottom recommended that the territory should have its constitution suspended, its elected government dissolved and effectively be ruled from London.
British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs Liz Truss did not immediately impose direct rule, but said the report showed “clearly that substantial legislative and constitutional change is required to restore the standards of governance that the people of the BVI are entitled to.”
The UK is already responsible for defense and foreign policy in the BVI, which is a British overseas territory, but BVI Governor John Rankin — Queen Elizabeth II’s representative on the island — is now expected to take charge of all BVI domestic policy and budgets.
The report is not directly linked to Fahie’s dramatic arrest, but the British government had been clearly aware of the DEA investigation into drug running.
After the DEA sting operation on Thursday, British ministers decided to rush out publication of the Hickinbottom report, short-circuiting a planned consultation procedure with island politicians.
The UK last imposed direct rule on an overseas territory when it took charge of the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2009, and the British government is clearly nervous over how its plans would be greeted on the islands.
British Minister for Asia and the Middle East Amanda Milling, whose responsibilities include overseas territories, is to fly to the BVI for discussions with local officials.
Allegations of rampant criminality on the BVI had prompted starkly contrasting approaches from US and UK authorities, with the UK adopting a public commission of inquiry dominated by lawyers and the US launching an elaborate undercover police operation that eventually led to the territory’s most senior elected official.
The BVI commission of inquiry was launched last year amid allegations of corruption and drug running at the highest level on the islands .
Those claims were not investigated by the commission, but its 1,000-page report concluded that maladministration was so endemic that it would be impossible to prevent corruption and conflicts of interest in the awarding of contracts, appointments to public office and the administration of money.
In his report, Hickinbottom insisted the suspension of the powers of elected ministers “was not only warranted but essential if the abuses which I have identified are to be tackled and brought to an end.”
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