Top level overseas workers ‘bleeding’ VI’s taxpayers – resident
“...whether or not you want to believe it, there are BVIslanders who are qualified for a lot of positions that are given to outsiders, especially a lot of the “big” positions...they are bleeding the country to the degree that we have to pay for their housing, car allowance, we have to pay for everything. And the bottom line is that 90 percent of their monies are leaving the country. So they are not an asset to us as BVIslanders. These are things that seriously have to be looked at,” the resident bluntly stated.
According to the resident, she would like to see the Labour Department review work permits every two years to ascertain if the holders’ services are still needed in the VI. She is advocating that Virgin Islanders be given a chance to prove his or her worth in the work force.
“...we need to think about the locals who have gone away to study for years and return. Home is home, and by God’s grace [they need to] find something to do. I am not saying every BVIslander has to get a job, but provision should be taken. We want to get back to the point where we are the majority and not the minority,” the resident charged. “There have been several instances where people have come home trying to find jobs but because we are saturated with positions from outsiders it is difficult.”
However, Hon. Dr. Kedrick Pickering, Minister for Natural Resources and Labour admitted that realistically it would be unfair for an overseas employee who has been living in the VI for 14 plus years and has helped build a business to be removed “just like that” to accommodate a local.
“It is one of the biggest issues we have to face as a country...some of these individuals have children that are born here. These are the dynamics we face. We have to find the balance in our country to ensure the indigenous BVIslander is protected but the people who have come to live among us can’t be ignored,” he pointed out.
The Labour Minister acknowledged, “We have to find a balance that would make our society functions. We can’t create a situation. The biggest problem that we face is to take problems and create bigger issues for ourselves. We cannot create a situation in our country where we have ‘we against them or them against we’. That’s destructive. Whoever comes to live among us can feel that they are doing something.”
Hon. Pickering is also strongly of the view that children who are born in the VI to non-belongers must be treated “like they are from here”.
The meeting, which is organised by the Ministry for Natural Resources and Labour, is geared at finding out what are the issues affecting residents. The feedback is crucial to the Ministry and Labour Department in drafting policies that would improve the lives of residents.
Meetings were already held in East End and Virgin Gorda, with other scheduled for Road Town, Anegada and Jost Van Dyke.
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