Is Anegada too boring to work?
This was one of the issues raised yesterday, March 5, 2012 by Winston Potter at the labour meeting held at the Emile Dunlop Community Centre, Anegada.
“I run an ad in the newspaper month in, month out...I get phone calls up to this morning and when I tell them it’s Anegada, they say okay, thank you and hang up. People just don’t want to come and work here,” he told Minister for Natural Resources and Labour, Dr. Kedrick Pickering.
Potter revealed that he has a new establishment but is forced to keep it closed since he barely has staff to keep the other restaurant and bar open.
In explaining his plight, the entrepreneur said he has a regular job, and in the evenings would have to act as the cook, waiter and bartender to keep his business running smoothly.
“I want to be the one to walk around and see what’s going on in the business...it’s a really funny situation for me. If you bring someone fresh from overseas he or she can adjust to the lifestyle on Anegada, but if you bring somebody from Tortola they say oh Anegada too dead. I am not lying....I need people to work,” he stated.
According to him, he had hired two Americans to assist but they left last year after the lengthy period of sorting out their renewed work permits. Potter told the Minister the permits were held up for nearly a year, and wanted to know if the Labour Department had put a freeze on issuing permits.
In response to his concerns, Hon. Pickering stated, “Mr. Ralph O’Neal would go down in history for making one of the most famous statements, BVI is a place long on rumours and short on facts. I don’t know where it ever came from that this Government not issuing work permits ... that is absolute nonsense.”
Meanwhile, commenting on the problem of persons reluctant to work on Anegada, the Minister admitted it’s a unique situation and promised that he will discuss it with his colleagues to facilitate the process.
The Anegada meeting is the last leg in a series of meetings that was hosted by the Ministry to find out what are the problems residents face in the workforce.
Now the Ministry would have to make some tough decisions.
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