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Are some people in the VI starving?

- Radio caller said he heard it being said & himself can say that economy so hard some people living pay check to pay check
A caller to the radio show Umoja on April 9, 2015 said some people in the Virgin Islands are living from pay check to pay check and are unable to save. The minimum wage in the Virgin Islands has stood at $4.00 per hour for the last 15 years. Photo: khaleejtimes.com
According to the host of Umoja, Mr Cromwell Smith aka Edju Enka, he had an issue with some employees being in the middle income range and who 'work for years and years and years without any increase. [They] don’t get a raise at all.' Photo: VINO/File
According to the host of Umoja, Mr Cromwell Smith aka Edju Enka, he had an issue with some employees being in the middle income range and who 'work for years and years and years without any increase. [They] don’t get a raise at all.' Photo: VINO/File
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- A caller to the radio show Umoja aired on ZVI 780AM on Thursday April 9, 2015 lamented on how some people in the Virgin Islands have been finding it very difficult to make ends meet due to the state of the economy and the high bills, especially medical bills, they are faced with while languishing at the minimum wage level.

The caller said he heard people saying that there are some people on Tortola starving and while he couldn’t confirm that he was aware that some people have been finding it difficult to cope with their meagre salaries.

Living pay check to pay check

“We have a serious problem of people living from pay check to pay check…they can’t even save a dollar,” the caller said while commenting that hospital bills are so high that some people when they seek medical attention end up with bills amounting to more money than what they are earning.

“When you go to the hospital you have to pay more money than you making a week, so consider that. That could not be fair at all.”

The same caller pointed out that some persons have been working with certain companies for 25 to 30 years and have not been seeing any significant increase if any at all, which he also said was not fair and that the Minimum Wage Committee needed to look into.

“…and these companies making a lot of dollars all the time and is the same money you making? It is not fair, the caller argued.

The show was co-hosted by Mr Cromwell Smith aka Edju En ka and Mr Natalio D. Wheatley aka Sowande Uhuru.

According to Mr Smith, he also had issue with some employees being in the middle income range and who “work for years and years and years without any increase. [They] don’t get a raise at all.”

Businesses need to take lead role in economy- Smith

The talk show host, himself a businessman, said he is of the view that businesses should take a stewardship role of the economy. “Why we can’t understand as business people that we need to have a more equitable distribution of wealth and [that there] needs to be a harmonious relationship between employer/employees and government for this, to have a society thrive and the people to have a better quality of life and live in peace and be happy?”

Meanwhile, the Minimum Wage Committee has been holding several public consultations to arrive at recommendations for a review of the current minimum wage, which currently sits at $4 per hour, a level it has been at since 1999.

The committee is to submit its report to government with the recommended figure towards the end of April or early May 2015.

10 Responses to “Are some people in the VI starving?”

  • x factor (13/04/2015, 07:54) Like (19) Dislike (4) Reply
    This is real while the ndp head is in the sand
  • People on the street (13/04/2015, 08:34) Like (1) Dislike (1) Reply
    Don't look like they are starving!
  • Yes (13/04/2015, 08:34) Like (8) Dislike (2) Reply
    Eduenka got a consultancy so he cant feel the pain.
  • Realist (13/04/2015, 08:43) Like (17) Dislike (1) Reply
    This is what NDP supporters failed to realize. You can make improvements to the roads, cruise pier which are all good initiatives. But when you don't invest in people by paying them proper wages and there are rising costs across the board, we will continue to have this problem and the fact that we are now talking about the increase of the minimum wage is an election ploy to me.
  • hungry belly (13/04/2015, 08:53) Like (12) Dislike (2) Reply
    We cant eat the asphalt on the roads.
  • xxxxxxxx (13/04/2015, 10:03) Like (13) Dislike (2) Reply
    Ayo stop dey and man got house to build out of ports
  • bing (13/04/2015, 16:37) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Yes they are, and often.
  • rattie (13/04/2015, 16:47) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    We will punish the NDP for leaving we broke, hungry and in financial debt


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