Premier Dr. Orlando Smith deserves kudos for consistently keeping his promise to hold regular press conferences.
The other government ministers should follow his lead.
Dr. Smith typically faces the media once every month or two, giving a few updates before opening the floor to any topics journalists wish to address.
This practice has been invaluable in keeping the public informed. Though regular press conferences do not guarantee transparency — and indeed the government still has a long way to go in this regard — they are an important step in the right direction, in part because they give the press a chance to hold leaders accountable.
Dr. Smith’s willingness to face questions, and his professionalism in doing so, are refreshing. Past leaders have promised to do the same and failed to follow through for more than a few months.
The premier, however, is often unable to answer questions about other ministers’ portfolios. This is understandable: Though he should certainly have a broad understanding of his government’s business, no one person can know the specific details of all the ministries’ activities.
Unfortunately, the other ministers have been far less accessible than Dr. Smith, leaving large gaps in the public’s understanding of certain issues.
One recent case in point is the cruise pier project. For more than a year, information was slow in coming, and Dr. Smith was reluctant to field questions on the topic at his regular sessions.
Instead, questions were referred to the BVI Ports Authority and the Ministry of Communications and Works, whose leaders were tight-lipped.
When CW Minister Mark Vanterpool finally opened up last month, the public learned that the project was some $30 million over budget and that leaders had kept silent about substantial cost overruns for more than a year.
This delay was regrettable, and we suspect it would have been alleviated if Mr. Vanterpool had regularly faced the press throughout the construction of the pier project.
Now important questions remain about projects under all the ministers’ portfolios: the proposed airport expansion, National Health Insurance, education plans, and sewerage works, to name a few.
In the coming months, then, all government ministers should follow Dr. Smith’s lead and start holding regular press conferences where they open the floor to any questions reporters wish to ask.
Such sessions would be in keeping with the National Democratic Party’s longstanding promise of “government in the sunshine.”
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