Following the hurricanes of September 2017, workers are still not paid for services rendered to the government for the cleanup efforts. Photo: VINO/File

Honourable Marlon A. Penn (R8), Junior Minister for Trade and Investment Promotion, told the members of the House that it is 'unacceptable' that workers are still not paid for services rendered following the hurricanes of September 2017. Photo: VINO/File

He said, “It’s been one of the most vexing situations, in particular, that after the cleanup funds were still yet to be paid. Persons whose house were damaged came out and worked 12 to 15 hour days to ensure that our country gets back on track and now 7 to 8 months afterwards they are still not paid. That cannot be acceptable.”

Hon Penn expressed that despite the “hardship” the people of the territory experienced, they came out for the greater good of the community and the territory, while adding that these individuals “depend” on the money to take care of their families.

“We have to do better in how we handle paying our citizens who do business with the government. We can’t continue to run the government on the backs of our citizens. If we don’t have the money to pay people, don’t put them to work.”

The Minister for Trade and Investment Promotions emphasised that his government needs to be more “discipline” than they currently are if they want to see the territory move forward, while adding that this issue has been occurring before hurricane Irma.

He said, “This is not am Irma problem. This is not a Maria problem. It’s a problem that existed pre-Irmaria and it is something that we need to address.”

“We must believe in our people” – Hon Penn

Meanwhile, Hon Penn expressed that his government must “believe in the people” and ensure that they are at the forefront of the recovery process, while adding that it was the people who rebuilt the country following the aftermath of the hurricanes of September 2017.

“We have to believe in our people during this process and we need to ensure that they are at the forefront of this recovery and development process. We have been through an extremely challenging time over the past 6 to 8 months. It has left us as a country battered and bruised but not out. It has given us a renewed strength to rebuild...Madame Speaker, it’s that reliance, dedication and commitment to country is what is going to get us through this stage of our development. The BVI has had a good run and I foresee an even better run coming out of the process but it will require significant dedication by all.”

He continued, “Dedication and commitment by us as leaders to lead but to lead honestly not to deceive but to lead from a perspective of encouragement, empowerment to move our people forward as we go through this process of rebuilding and redevelopment and re-planning the path that we want to lead this country. While I’m optimistic and I see tremendous opportunity and potential going forward there are some things that we need to focus on and we really need to address some of the things so that we don’t make the same mistake we made in the past. We have to find ways to be more efficient.”