Omar Hodge

Omar Wallace Hodge (2 February 1942 – 20 December 2017)[1] was a politician in the British Virgin Islands. Hodge was the third longest serving member of the House of Assembly (including its former incarnation as the Legislative Council) after Lavity Stoutt and Ralph O'Neal. Hodge served continuously as the representative for the 6th District from his election in the 1979 general election until his surprise defeat in the 2011 general election. He served a total of 31 years, 360 days.[2] He elected not to contest the 2015 general election.

Hodge was a longstanding member of the Virgin Islands Party (VIP), and six of the nine general elections which he contested had been as a VIP candidate. Although he started his career as an independent candidate, he subsequently joined the VIP, but later split from them and contested the 1990 general election on behalf of a newly created party, the Independent People's Movement (which was disbanded shortly thereafter), and the 1995 general election on behalf of the Concerned Citizen's Movement, before later rejoining the VIP.

Hodge twice served as Minister for Natural Resources and Labour (from 1986–1988 and then again from 2007–2011). On each occasion, he was a member of Cabinet.

Hodge died on 20 December 2017 after a stroke, at the age of 75.[3]

Controversy

In 2014, Hodge was part of the controversy relating to the greenhouse project at Paraquita Bay. The Auditor General issued a damning report, which indicated that there was no comprehensive budget for the project, which led to requests for supplementary and over-expenditure on approved amounts. The report also noted that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour signed a binding contract with a Florida-based company for the greenhouse construction before even preliminary issues had been assessed. The Auditor General grimly noted that not a single crop had been reaped from the greenhouses even though US$6 million had been spent. The report concluded that the project "failed to meet any of the stipulated objectives".[4]

Critically, the auditors discovered a conflict of interest regarding an estimated $757,301.57 in no-bid contracts paid to the locally based firm Mirsand Town Planning and Architects Ltd., a firm owned by Jose and Sandra Camilo, who are brother- and sister-in-law to Omar Hodge, who conceived and oversaw the entire project.[5] Hodge denied conflicts of interest, saying that the Florida-based construction company selected Mirsand without reference to him.

Electoral history
Omar Hodge electoral history
YearDistrictPartyVotesPercentageWinning/losing marginResult
19796th DistrictIndependent19752.0%+19Won
19836th DistrictVirgin Islands Party27954.9%+50Won
19866th DistrictVirgin Islands Party29463.4%+129Won
19906th DistrictIndependent People's Movement30647.3%+136Won
19956th DistrictConcerned Citizen's Movement27037.4%+76Won
19996th DistrictVirgin Islands Party36745.4%+12Won
20036th DistrictVirgin Islands Party48955%+226Won
20076th DistrictVirgin Islands Party58867.4%+236Won
20116th DistrictVirgin Islands Party38538.6%-227Lost
A. Maduro-Caines

Footnotes
  1. "Political giant & VIP stalwart Omar W. Hodge has died | Virgin Islands News Online".
  2. "BVI election and information results 1950–2011" (PDF). BVI Deputy Governor's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2014.
  3. "The People's Man—Omar Hodge Dies". BVI Platinum. 21 December 2017.
  4. "Key principles violated in setting up $6M greenhouse, says AG". BVI News. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
  5. "Audit slams greenhouse project". BVI Beacon. 23 July 2014.


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