Chairman of the Board of Directors of Virgin Islands News Online Julian Willock dismissed the criticism over an article about a white expatriate being hired at TRC. However in a statement issued today by the TRC Chairman of the Board Ayana S. Hull defended the hiring of the regulatory economist. Photo: VINO/File

The TRC in a statement issued today July 16, 2014 said it stands firmly behind all hiring of its employees “irrespective of nationality for the benefit of a better BVI and to foster a proficient and professional regulatory telecommunications body". Image: TRC

Willock was a guest on the radio show ‘Morning Ride’ hosted by Paul ‘Gadiethz’ Peart on ZROD 103.7 FM today July 16, 2014.

“I believe yesterday I saw on the news site a story about the Chief Economist, I think she is a UK national, who has been working at the TRC for four plus years. And I believe the central question to be asked is after almost 7, 8, 9 years that we are now hearing from the TRC that they cannot find a local person to fill that post of Chief Economist,” said Willock as he was responding to the host.

“Now the real story is not what the headline says, whether the person is Indian or Spanish or Caucasian, that’s not the issue. Because I find too often we get superficial…we move away from the real issue. The real issue here is why after x amount of years, millions and millions of dollars spent in education, spent in scholarships by both Governments – Virgin Islands Party (VIP) and National Democratic Party (NDP) – that a Government agency after all these years could say to the public ‘hey we don’t have any locals to fill this post and the only person we can find is the person that’s there, and she is the only one familiar with the issues,” he said.

“I know that some people want to change the subject about race and about headlines, you know, the kind of superficial stuff that is easy to blog on Facebook. However, let’s keep the focus on the real matter,” said Willock.

During the course of the discussion, Mr Willock mentioned a conversation he had earlier today with someone who reminded him about a photograph that appeared on VINO some months earlier. The subject of the photo was of someone who had died as a result of a gunshot and VINO’s publication of it which had caused some persons to become upset.

“Here we are, a mother just lost a child to a gunshot…that’s a serious crime. Instead of us hearing about a policy on crime reduction from David Morris or Myron V. Walwyn, a policy on how to create jobs for those young men and women…instead of us hearing that, we’ve got some superficial argument about VINO posting the photo of the deceased,” said Willock.

“Let’s [look at] the real issues in the country instead of going off on these superficial tantrums about a headline, when in fact the issue is why can’t we find a local person to fill the post at TRC,” he said. “Tell me how we can prevent me seeing the pain and agony of another mother and father in the BVI because of gun violence and lack of opportunities for our youths. These are the real issues,” Mr Willock insisted.

TRC responds in statement

Meanwhile in response to VINO’s publication of the article, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) said in a statement today that it stands firmly behind all hiring of its employees “irrespective of nationality for the benefit of a better BVI and to foster a proficient and professional regulatory telecommunications body.”

“In response to an article on Virgin Islands News Online ‘White Expat in! Locals shut out for the TRC post!’ some clarification ought to be made,” said the TRC statement.

“Ms. Sarah Hayes was employed by the TRC in June 2010 and has over 15 years of experience in telecommunications. She is a Regulatory Economist with a Masters in Economic Regulation and Competitive Policy,” it said.

“Ms. Sarah Hayes was hired on the basis of setting up the much needed frame work of Economic Regulation which covers the Market Review program and the need to investigate anticompetitive behavior in the British Virgin Islands,” it said.

“The TRC has exercised due care to hire two BVIslanders, ensuring that a series of understudying and sufficient training could take place where eventually a candidate will be looked at as our local Chief Economist,” said the statement.

“To the best of the TRC’s knowledge, there are no local economists in the BVI currently with telecoms experience that have applied for the position as several ads were placed in the past which were void of qualified local applicants,” it said.

According to the TRC statement, Chairman of the TRC, Ms. Ayana S. Hull states that Ms. Hayes “has met the organization’s expectations and further added that she feels comfortable knowing that the TRC has taken the necessary steps to encourage qualified BVIslanders to apply for the post and that the TRC is taking progressive steps to prepare all its employees with local and international training to fill vacancies as the appropriate opportunity arises.”

The TRC statement concluded thus, “All interested and qualified BVIslanders wishing to apply for the post of Chief Economist are invited to forward their resume to the TRC where it will be assessed and actioned at the appropriate time.”