Neil Blyden was pleasantly surprised when he heard Premier Ralph T. O’Neal, with conviction, said that he is presently the best person to fill the substantive position of Chairman of the Tourist Board. The Territory’s leader made this announcement at a press conference last week while addressing pressing issues affecting the Territory.

“….we believe he is the man for the job…but he’s currently an interest of the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP),” the Premier revealed when asked who was the plausible replacement for the ousted Terrence Ford, who was acting in the position for about four months.

Two days after Blyden was considered for the job in Cabinet, the Premier disclosed to reporters that the Commissioner of Police, Reynell Frazer informed him that it would have been unwise to appoint Blyden because he “may be questioned about something.” However, the Top Cop made no other revelations on the subject.

Subsequently, Blyden was quizzed by the Premier on the matter, and according to Blyden he was never questioned by the Police or asked to go to the station to make a statement.

“I continued to press this matter and at another forum I was advised to get the information from the DPP, and that was done. I was told by the Public Prosecutor that Mr. Blyden was a person of interest, and therefore he could not say when he would no longer be a person of interest. And that has kept back the permanent Chairman and we believe that Neil Bylden is the person who should be the Chairman of the Tourist Board, especially at this time,” O’Neal said candidly. “So we have to wait on the pleasure of the DPP before he [Blyden] could be appointed. I don’t know if that’s a good position to be in.”

Meanwhile, when the Standpoint contacted Blyden, who’s the owner of ZVCR and a prominent entertainment organiser, he said he was surprised by the Premier’s comments of him being the man for the job, but refused to comment further on the ‘person of interest’ scenario.

Opposition Leader, Dr. Orlando Smith expressed his two cents on the matter that has raised eyebrows over the past few days. He noted that he’s sure that the Premier did not wish to have it seem that, “Blyden was up to some criminal intent.”

But he chastised the Territory’s leader for divulging to the media conversations he had with Frazer and the Public Prosecutor. Dr. Smith is of the view that it is highly inappropriate for the Premier to violate what was said to him by the Commissioner of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions in confidence.

“Be that as it may, to insist that he will wait until Blyden’s name is cleared before appointing a Chairman of the Tourist Board can only adversely affect the country given the importance of Tourism to our economy.  I suggest that Blyden tell the Premier to go ahead and appoint some one else so the board can get on with its much delayed work!” the Opposition Leader stated. 

    Restructuring the Tourist Board 

Premier O’Neal, who also holds the portfolio of Tourism Minister, said the re-organising and restructuring of the Tourist Board have been “progressing very well indeed.”

He noted that the Tourist Board Ordinance will be amended to increase membership from 11 to 15 so that the wider spectrum of the tourist sector could have representation on the Board.

“…the Board is the one that gets all the information and make recommendations to the Tourism Minister, who in turn takes it to Cabinet where it becomes policy or have changes in the laws,” the Premier explained. 

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