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by pltm
(PLTM) - Chief Executive Officer of the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA), Paul Bayly, who was hired to help lead the recovery process following the 2017 hurricanes, has quit.
The Board of Directors of the Recovery and Development Agency (RDA) accepted his resignation.
"Since his appointment in 2018, Mr. Bayly has been critical to both the establishment of the RDA and the excellent work undertaken by the Agency to date," the RDA stated in a statement.
The RDA structure was designed to meet the needs and ambitions of the original $600m Recovery to Development Plan, with a team of technical experts equipped with the skills to deliver an ambitious recovery that would be stronger, smarter, more resilient and sustainable.
However, the RDA has been largely unsuccessful in raising the much-needed capital from donors to fund its ambitious projects and instead has had to rely heavily on tax dollars to execute its projects.
All of this against the backdrop of more questions about the salary being paid to Bayly. Former Premier, Hon. Dr. D. Orlando Smith had been questioned about the matter, but did not disclose figures.
Mr. Bayly was asked directly about his salary, however, he refused to answer, saying that it was an inappropriate question.
Part of Mr. Bayly’s mandate is securing loans for the BVI’s recovery. When asked whether he is receiving incentives for securing these loans, or any sort of commission, the RDA CEO said, “That question is not appropriate.”
There were reports that Mr. Bayly was earning a base salary of $350,000 annually. While he was tight-lipped about the figure, when asked about this report that he is earning a base salary of $350,000 annually, he denied this, saying, “No, it’s not.”
The RDA indicated that Mr Bayly, with his infrastructure experience, including large scale disaster recovery, was critical to the successful establishment of the RDA.
It was noted that the revised recovery programme has a considerably reduced scale of proposed works and projects to be implemented by the RDA than was anticipated when the Agency was established.
"Mr Bayly proposed, and the Board has accepted that there is no longer the same requirement for Mr. Bayly’s skills. He leaves the RDA well positioned to deliver the revised RDP for the Government and people of the BVI. The Board wishes to thank Mr. Bayly for his support to the Board and leadership of the Agency and wish him every success in his future endeavours," the RDA stated.
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