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by pltm
(PLTM) - In wake of the recent backlash over hiring a Trinidadian as the new Chief Executive Officer of the British Virgin Islands Health Services Authority (BVIHSA), Health Minister, Hon. Ronnie Skelton has stated that there was no other way.
Minister Skelton said that there is a board made up of six BVIslanders and one expatriate, and when they recommended Mrs. Paula Chester-Cumberbatch for the new CEO job, he had questioned it initially.
"They have recommended someone to me, I questioned them because I believe that BVIslanders should be given as Ms (Eileene) Parsons would say 'give them an opportunity to make a fool of themselves in their own country'. So I questioned, but there was no other way to go but this way, for now," he said.
"So I have recommended to Cabinet and Cabinet approved and that is the way it is at this point in time."
Many, including the opposition, felt that BVIslander, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Ronald Georges should have been appointed to the post.
"Health care is not something we need to pay politics with anymore. The CEO of our health services authority needs to be an administrative person; the chief of medical staff needs to be a technical person; the hospital administrative could be a person who works in hospital...We need to start dividing the thing so we can get the best outcome for our people," Minister Skelton put forward.
The Health Minister said there is no one who puts BVIslanders first and he has a record to support his claims.
"I don’t think there is anyone in this room or in this country who care more for the advancement of BVIslanders than I do, I will challenge anyone, anyone because I so believe...Our people I give them opportunities, I give them means to advance in their own country," he said.
"I worked at electricity corporation for many years and people can vouch for me, I worked, I have been a minister of government going on ten years, and you can again vouch for what I do," he said.
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