On December 3rd the St. Thomas Unit hosted Steven van Beverhoudt, the Inspector General of the Virgin Islands, for an informative discussion about the role and function of the Inspector General, how the Inspector General chooses which areas to investigate and what that process is like, and current projects. Van Beverhoudt encouraged people to visit the website of the Inspector General at http://www.viig.org/ where they can read recent reports and submit suggestions for areas to investigate fraud.
Van Beverhoudt also suggested ways in which citizens can help improve the function of the Inspector General. One way is to support legislation that would set the budget for the Office of the Inspector General as a specific percentage of the overall government budget. He also stated that his office once had several more employees than it currently does and with more employees he is able to investigate more areas of government, and perhaps more importantly, follow-up with previous investigations. The Office of the Inspector General does not have any ability to force any department to follow through with recommendations made in published audits. Van Beverhoudt stated that if citizens wanted departments to comply, they should encourage their senators to force compliance by making it a requirement in order to receive funding.
A full-length video of Van Beverhoudt's talk will be posted shortly.