While addressing the press earlier this week Premier Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley provided an update on the progress of ongoing efforts to identify and engage the candidates who will form the Commission of Inquiry Implementation Unit.
It was previously disclosed by the government that this unit would be commissioned for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of the recommendations made in the Commission of Inquiry Report.
While this process has already begun, Premier Wheatley said that the unit has not yet been formed due to unforeseen hurdles encountered in the early stages of identifying a lead to spearhead the unit.
“We ran into a little speed bump with the Implementation Unit because the person that we had identified, her organisation, did not agree to second her for that purpose. So we are currently identifying another person to spearhead. That person is considering it right now and once they give their approval to move forward then the implementation unit can be up and running”, he said.
Premier Wheatley noted that in the meantime, the process of public consultations on the matter of the COI reforms is ongoing as well.
So far, he said, there have been notable concerns expressed by members of the public.
“People have been concerned about the operations of government, whether they’d be able to do the reforms and operate government at the same time. It’s a challenge but we’ve been able to do so successfully this far. People have been concerned as to what happens if we miss a deadline. Hopefully, persons are less concerned about that now because, well, we’ve made reasonable attempts to begin to do things within the deadlines. If there’s a deadline we can’t meet for good reason, for instance, something needs more consultation and we want to do things in a proper way…. I think all parties have accepted that that is being reasonable”, he explained.
Dr. Wheatley thanked members of the public for coming out and being a part of the consultations and noted that there has been an admirable level of community engagement in discussions on the matter.
While attending these meetings, however, he urged members of the public to remain on task and reserve questioning for matters relevant to the COI reforms.
The Premier has promised that public engagement specific to community matters and concerns will continue in the near future.