“He who is without sin, cast the first stone”
Those were the sentiments of Premier Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley as he stood before the House of Assembly following heated debates on Tuesday evening.
That sitting brought two Auditor General reports, surrounding apparent misuse of public funds, to be laid before the House.
Wheatley said that while these reports may focus on the last 3 and a half years, they are truly evidence of failures in governance spanning successive administrations.
While acknowledging that the Virgin Islands, like many other societies, is not without flaws; Wheatley asserted that having such audits, investigations, internal processes and moments of self examination is necessary to growing and developing the territory.
The key, he said, is to learn from them – not play the blame game.
Wheatley stressed that Virgin Islanders cannot fall into the trap of fighting against each other for political power and sacrificing the Virgin Islands as a result.
Describing himself as “a very honest person”, Wheatley said that now there is a need for unity in the territory.
However, Tuesday’s sitting, he said, demonstrated that the Unity Government is ending and politicians are stepping back into old habits.