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Half Increment Story

January 14th, 2012 | Tags: article Justin Time increments pay cut
Government Administrative Complex. Photo: VINO
Justin Time

After the people of the territory went ahead and did ‘the thing’ in the November 7, 2011 General Elections, is this how the National Democratic Party repays civil servants? By cutting their increments in half? Wow! Why are civil servants paying the price for the financial situation of the entire territory? Disgruntled employees will only make for a poor public service my dear members of Cabinet.

While I am adamantly opposed to this cut in our increment, I must say that I believe that we have played a significant role in our own demise by mismanaging the resources of the service. Some of us do not come to work on time, and then when we do arrive at work, we have to leave the office to get something to eat for breakfast. After this breakfast, we have to check our email, surf the web for a while, call or text a few friends, and then begin working; by this time, it is around 9:30-10:00. We take our time doing the tasks that we have for the day, leave for lunch on time but for some reason, return from lunch late. Lunch is over now and we do not feel that motivated to work because we just ate. So we are sluggish for the afternoon and spend some more time on the phone, internet, and with co workers. At four o’clock, we use that as time to start winding down the day; by 4:25, everything is packed away where they are supposed to be, the computer is off, and if we can stand by the door until 4:30, we do that. There is abuse with government supplies; like paper and ink, printing personal things etc. Vehicles are often used making personal runs; dropping people to the laundry, going home for things you forgot that have nothing to do with work and etc. I am guilty of such transgressions. Therefore I am appealing to civil servants who know that they fall in any of these categories to make a conscious effort to refrain from these things. This way, we can save money and stretch our resources.

The leaders of the territory though, need to set an example for the rest of the territory in the way they spend OUR money. From what I have observed with His Excellency the Governor Mr. Boyd Mc Cleary, he appears to be making conscious efforts to curb spending. Our politicians need to take note. Some of the vehicles they purchase with OUR money to drive around in are unnecessary; the contracts they give to people to do things the territory and its inhabitants neither need, nor want are controversial; the ton load of unnecessary festivals, parades, etc that they sponsor, that happens in numerous villages throughout the year are disturbing. The place is small; let us have one, big, central celebration and be satisfied with that! Thousands and thousands of dollars being spent on ‘consultancies’; give me a break. It needs to stop!

So you are saying that the entire territory is in a financial crisis, but the civil servants must bear the brunt of the attack by having their increments cut in half. The former government mentioned suspending the increment but they didn’t do it. You are saying that the politicians have taken a pay cut too. But guess what; politicians can afford to take a pay cut. With all the allowances they get monthly, like telephone, travel, entertainment and etc, a pay cut wouldn’t hurt any of them. Some of them, from the former government in particular, DID NOT even earn their salary, in my opinion. Besides that, almost every politician that is out there has an extra source of income besides their base salary and their allowances that they are getting from us. I do not have a food and beverage company; no shares in a cellular phone company. I do not practice medicine; nor do I invest with a quarry; I do not have apartments, villas, restaurants, or stores. I am not a member of a wealthy family.

What about the family with all those bills; student loans, $800 a month rent for an apartment, car payments, gasoline, propane, food, clothes; what about those who have a child or children to take care of? Were all of these things taken into consideration prior to making the decision to cut the increment in half?

“At least we still have a job!” People continue to make mention of what is happening in the United States and in the United States Virgin Islands. Yes, a number of people have been laid off in the United States. Yes, government workers have taken an eight percent pay cut across the board, but what I am failing to hear those same people say is that in the United States, they have unemployment benefits and breaks. We do not have those in this territory. The same people that are talking about what is happening in the United States and its territories are failing to mention that in those places, they have Consumer Affairs that seek to regulate food prices and other things. Do we have that here? When the expiry date for food comes in this territory, do you know what the stores do? They reduce the price of the food item. In United States territories, they HAVE to remove those items from the shelf. Who regulates prices in this territory? Who sees to it that the already established monopolies refrain from inflation? Do you know how much money a person charges for the average one bedroom apartment in the British Virgin Islands; for the average two bedroom apartment? Who is there to see to it that there is affordable housing? Government does not provide housing in this territory like they do in the United States and its territories. So when we mention what is happening over there, let us mention both sides of the coin.

What about the minimum wage in this territory in comparison to the minimum wage in the places that we are comparing ourselves to? Have we checked their gas prices and compared them to ours? I saw on the news last week that gas per gallon at the pump had risen to $3. 63 in the United States. A number of people in this territory, I’m sure, would rejoice if they could go to any gas pump in this territory right now and pay $3.63. The cost of gas per gallon at the gas station that I go to is $4.65; that is $1.02 more than what was reported on the news and if you live on the outer islands of Jost Van Dyke, Anegada, and Virgin Gorda, you may be paying a minimum of $5.00 per gallon.

Let’s talk about public transportation in the U.S.V.I . You can get from the eastern end of the island to the western end of the island for $2.00 on a safari, or, you can use the government run transit system to get to your destination for around the same cost. We DO NOT have a government run transit system in this territory and I personally do not know of any safari bus that will take me or anyone, from East End to West End for $2.00. Do you?

Some have mentioned shopping locally and ‘keeping the money in the territory’. The reality is, in a number of scenarios, you get more value for your dollar shopping outside of this territory. If that was not the case, so many people would not have been doing it. The truth is, depending on what you are going away to purchase, you can pay your boat fare/plane fare, rent a vehicle, shop, come back to this territory, pay duty on the items and it be less expensive than shopping locally. Besides the amount of money you spend, you get better variety, higher quality and if it’s medical, more privacy. While speaking about that, the government needs to stop charging duty on items purchased by individuals who are importing things for their personal use, especially when the items they are importing cannot be purchased locally and save the duty charges for those who are importing goods for sale.

I have more that I would like to write on this topic but I decided to only submit half of my thoughts to go along with the increment the government has proposed.

4 Responses to “Half Increment Story ”

  • I'm Concern (14/01/2012, 14:27) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Good Going Mamma who ever you are Open confession is good for the soul
    • - (15/01/2012, 16:18) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      GET RID OF PARTY BOYS IN POLICE THEM LITTLE IGNORANT PARTY BOYS NEED TO GO. THEY EARN LOADS AND ALL THEY DO IS FEED OFF EVERYONES SUCCESS THEY ARE LEECHES. THEY DONT EVEN MIX WITH LOCALS. ONE OF THEM HASN'T SOLVE ONE MURDER BEEN HERE THREE YEARS NOTHING BUT HE IS VERY VERY VERY CLOSE TO DEPUTY. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND GET RID
  • same old story (15/01/2012, 15:11) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    I DISGREE THEM ELECTED PEOPLE ONLY TOOK OFF $500 FROM THEIR PAY AND WANT TO KILL WE LIL PEOPLE IN THE SERVICE...
  • OK (16/01/2012, 01:09) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    WELL SAID!! SURVIVAL IS HARD WHAT MAKE PEOPLE SURVIVE HER IS THE ILLEGAL CRAPS THE WOMEN THEM HAVE TO SELL TEM SELVES TO PAY THEM RENT AND FEED THEM KIDS WORK TWO JOBS THERES NO DAMN HELP EVERYTHING EXPENSIVE AND SALARIES LOW GOVERNMENT DONT REALLY HELP!! THIS IS CRAP!! GOV CRAP 10 YEARS FROM NOW WE GOING BALL WATCH U SEE!!


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