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Gov’t should ‘head hunt’ locals to fill top jobs in VI– Skelton-Cline

-calls out decision to hire expats as head of key government divisions
Pastor & Radio talk show host Claude O. Skelton-Cline has called on the Fahie administration to ensure that key position in the public sector are being held by virgin Islanders as a matter of priority. Photo: VINO/File
According to the Claude O. Skelton-Cline, the government must be unapologetic in ensuring that Virgin Islanders get hired in key positions, especially ones that have national security implications. Photo: Internet Source
According to the Claude O. Skelton-Cline, the government must be unapologetic in ensuring that Virgin Islanders get hired in key positions, especially ones that have national security implications. Photo: Internet Source
BAUGHERS BAY, Tortola, VI – Pastor & Radio talk show host Claude O. Skelton-Cline has called on the Fahie administration to ensure that key positions in the public sector are being held by Virgin Islanders as a matter of priority.

“In the last election, I took the time to throw licks on the then government regarding these same kinds of matters, and in the words of Ronald Reagan… here we go again,” Skelton-Cline said on the January 18, 2022, edition of his radio show.

Calling out the hiring of an expat to head the BVI Airport Authority (BVIAA), Skelton-Cline questioned, ‘You mean to tell me that we don’t have no locals that’s qualified to be the head of the BVI Airports Authority?”

He said poor or no local response to advertised vacancies is no excuse for not finding Virgin Islanders to fill key jobs.

“When you have these key positions in your country, you don’t wait for locals to apply, you do some headhunting. You seek out persons from amongst your own. Make sure they get in the process and have first opportunity to hold the highest post in this country!” he said.

VI keets 'dropping the ball' - Skelton-Cline 

He said the hiring of non-locals in key position is a fumble, and further likened the hiring of expats to exporting money out of the county, "how is it we keep dropping this ball over and over again?"  

“I love all of our regional brothers and sisters… [but] we don’t have no Virgin Islanders? I know we do, I am certain that we do,” he added. 

According to the man of the cloth, the government must be unapologetic in ensuring that Virgin Islanders get hired in key positions, especially ones that have national security implications.

“I am disappointed, I am disgusted… I don’t care which government it is, Virgin Islanders should have first right in the Virgin Islands to hold the highest office in the Virgin Islands,” Skelton-Cline said.

34 Responses to “Gov’t should ‘head hunt’ locals to fill top jobs in VI– Skelton-Cline”

  • Savage (22/01/2022, 17:42) Like (50) Dislike (10) Reply
    Keep whipping a dead horse, you all don't have the qualified people to do the job like all the other trades needed. An island of boat captains, hairdressers, barbers, club occupiers and scooter riders.
    • @Savage (23/01/2022, 05:04) Like (17) Dislike (1) Reply
      Not true , We have BVI Islanders all over the globe ! Treat them right and they'll return home...
    • Rubber Duck (23/01/2022, 17:06) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
      Sounds like he is looking for employment now the consultancies have dried up. I need some bush cutting Claude.
  • Sam (22/01/2022, 17:49) Like (23) Dislike (3) Reply
    Hon RT O'neal was the last chief minister who lookout for VI People

    it is mysterious; within the other caribbean islands all or most of the key public post are headed by their nationals

    it it amazing when one raise the facts that locals should hold key post -the amount of old talk like vi folks should take a back seat to permit holders(not a personal issue)

    go through the region or internationally the citizens are in charge of making key decisions for the future of the nation
    • @ Sam. Ur right & wrong (22/01/2022, 19:36) Like (22) Dislike (1) Reply
      RT O'Neal starts the decline of the BVI and the BVI economy with those kind of policies and no leadership skills...Hon. Lavity Stoutt passed the button to O'Neal with the BVI way in the lead by the time he leaves the BVI was running behind, since then we can't ketch ourselves.
  • @Savage (22/01/2022, 18:17) Like (6) Dislike (9) Reply
    You sound like a real hater. You want to be among we the VI ppl living the good life and biting the hand that feeds. You are very ungrateful.
    • Savage (23/01/2022, 06:51) Like (25) Dislike (3) Reply
      I am not a hater, I am a realist but I realize that human beings always have a problem with the truth. I have been Here awhile now and it's the same repetitive lifestyle of the locals and the same simple mindedness of born here nonsense that keeps them from development.
      I work Here in construction, highly skilled and qualified and I try my best to show any local willing to learn all I know but they can't even get pass the "hot sun" every day scenario. I believe knowledge is to be shared at all cost but that is a lost cause bout here.
      I pay rent, buy food, clothes, send money so your greedy government can get 7% off western union,nhi, ss, paye and even $5 to your taxis (who deserve it)so you see I feed myself, I work for what I want and have so need to bite the hand, just take the whole hand one time.
      Yes the bvi is beautiful, the women are beautiful as well but nature little secret is that most "born here" ah idiot and will stay so until they realize that the caribbean does not stop at beef island
      • josiah'sbay (23/01/2022, 11:09) Like (8) Dislike (18) Reply
        You have too much venom, hate and bitterness to be of any help here in the VI perhaps you should just leave.
  • @ SAM (22/01/2022, 18:57) Like (4) Dislike (0) Reply
    SO WHERE Q ARE THEY ? AND WHO OR WHAT IS STOPPING ✋THEM ?
    • @@ Sam (22/01/2022, 20:33) Like (3) Dislike (1) Reply
      just for your information

      the number of persons born in road town holding down key post in the usvi or mainland usa is mind blowing(do your homework)

      this nothing new(lots of them in the medical field)

      stay focused and look around; people leave their big islands and europe and now populating little road town(run talk that)

      a few years ago one of my grandchildren went abroad to study she was made an offer(so come back road town to work for peanuts??)

      some folks can adjust to small money or the minimum wage in road town because of the rate of exchange.....visit those money transfer companies



      • Me (24/01/2022, 17:03) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
        name one bvislander that has a "key post" in the us. There aint no such thing as a "key post" in usvi- the place too small to be "key" anything.
  • musa (22/01/2022, 19:15) Like (16) Dislike (0) Reply
    With more than 1500 new Belongers & virgin islanders
    none want to work with the airport board members easy as that .
  • I say.. (22/01/2022, 19:29) Like (22) Dislike (0) Reply
    Government should focus as a priority on getting value for money, ensure workers show up to work early and perform... This mentality u all pushing us only encouraging weakness and division in the work place....
  • Experience (22/01/2022, 20:03) Like (21) Dislike (5) Reply

    I used to advocate for unity but I find working with i**** people, they are hateful, jealous, crafty, messing with black magic and just not good people. The w***** people are racists. All these two groups just made BVI a very awful place and spoiled our paradise home just because we did not get the best. We visit countries outside the BVI and their own don't behave like those that come to BVI. We keep getting rejects and people who can not be productive in building their own countries. And every minute labour and immigration accepting these hateful nillionaires. Why? How can -1 plus -1 help the BVI? How?

  • Crs (22/01/2022, 20:30) Like (6) Dislike (2) Reply
    You think just anyone can do any job and do it correctly?
  • nonsense (23/01/2022, 01:42) Like (10) Dislike (1) Reply
    How about BVIslanders should stop seeking citizenship by birth right for their children so that they can develop the skills necessary for the development of their country? How about BVI should pay decent salaries so that their own could find employment opportunities attractive in the Territory?
  • jah (23/01/2022, 01:50) Like (9) Dislike (3) Reply
    Mr cline forgot where he use to live before he run back to the BVI,over all locals doesn't like to do hard labour,quick cash is what they mostly think about,putting someone to do a job that isn't qualified is just waist of time.
  • vi (23/01/2022, 07:23) Like (8) Dislike (1) Reply

    why Vincent Wheatley did not hold up the person from st lucia who just got the job as head of BVI Airports Authority work permit, you coming out saying The Department of Labour is said to be doing due diligence to make sure it is not giving away jobs that locals can do, the last time i check the Airports Authority was running by an local before, vincent you have the heart to say you delaying work permits so local can get the job, why u did not delay this work permit so an other local would be put in the position as head of Airport Authority

  • Expats education (23/01/2022, 08:04) Like (6) Dislike (1) Reply
    Education is the key to success and if ppl want drive big boats and cars as messengers diwn Island mothers and fathers send us to school to learn so that the first step to reaching the top not by what your family name.
    Yes we want to see more local nurses doing what the expats are doing but as them get train boom back to the USA
  • ethnic cleansing (23/01/2022, 09:09) Like (1) Dislike (1) Reply
    Wow there’s a set of people on here that just don’t get it along with the minister of natural resources and labor ,your destroying this country your decisive behavior if there is no one that is qualified then there is no one the government of the past and the present is not interested in training anyone because there is not much in it for them for instance in 1986 I wanted to become a pathologist but had no money and was none that was e we ITV the name to get a scholarship knowing that this was in the field that really needed help I tried and failed to get a scholarship 32 years later we still don’t have a local pathologist we have to wait on one from abroad to do an autopsy but like everything we jump on less fortunate people to blame for our problems the same people who pays the taxes who pays the NHI the same people who rents out houses the same people who we say is our Caribbean brothers but we fail to acknowledge as such but remember that 1500 plus people who were given belongers status they have friends and family that is being advantage and what do you think the out look of the election would look like if we have a chance to have one payback sometimes can be worse than obeah
  • question (23/01/2022, 10:23) Like (5) Dislike (0) Reply
    Inquiring mind want to know why pastor clyne give the best part of his life to the city of Detriot and not to the development of these virgin Islands?

    Cline i would like to hear u attack the training institutions that are not offer ing training to the needs we have, there are key areas which interesting bvi lander can be train in but does that mean if they are train they are entitle to that job for the rest of their life regardless to their proformance?
  • @ @@ SAM (23/01/2022, 10:43) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    YOUR MIND IS DIRTY / WE ALL ARE AFRICAN DICENDANTS / STOP SPREADING RACISM HATRED AND VINDICTIVENESS , TRY PRAYERS
    • @@@@SAM (23/01/2022, 12:17) Like (12) Dislike (7) Reply
      Go tell that to the expats who like to jump on Virgin Islanders. It is not good for any one to spread hate. The expats are the loudest when it come to spreading hate.
      • I agree (23/01/2022, 14:45) Like (9) Dislike (3) Reply
        They are surely the ones shouting the loudest from behind their screens on social media. They are also quick to speak of VI hatred while ignoring their own negative behaviors. Expats would toss Virgin Islanders out of their own homeland if given the opportunity.
  • E. Leonard (23/01/2022, 12:23) Like (3) Dislike (0) Reply
    William Shakespeare in Hamlet Act 1, Scene III: ““This above all: to thine own self be true
    And it must follow, as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man/Farewell, my blessing season this in thee.” To this, I will add that one must take care of oneself first before taking care of others. Other regional sister countries rightly so look out first for their citizens. I’m not averse to the VI recruiting and hiring non-Virgin Islanders as the circumstances may dictate.

    Moreover, up to the mid-1960s, the VI depended heavily on subsidence agriculture, coal burning, construction, fishing, craft, emigration(remittances), trade, etc ; these revenue streams were supplemented by grant-in-aid. Then, starting in the mid-60s and early 80s, the economic pendulum started to swing towards tourism and financial services; both make up the twin-pillars of the VI economy. The economic changes improved the VI standard of living and quality of life, boosting the VI claim of having one of the highest standard of living, quality of life, human development index and per capital income in the region.

    Additionally, the new economy created the opportunity for new jobs and skillsets. Nevertheless, the VI did a lukewarm and less than stellar job of training and educating locals to take up any job in the VI from non-skilled workers to Premier. Is there, perhaps, a concerning gap between job availability and qualified locals? Moreover, does the VI have cadre of aviation experienced and qualified locals? How many qualify locals apply?

    Looking forward, the VI needs to develop and launch an urgent, robust and strategic labour master plan. Launched, the master plan must be effectively executed, not allowed to become book ends on a shelf or stored out of sight as a computer file. Further, whenever there is a need to recruit and hire a non-Virgin Islander for a position in the VI, an understudy(s) must work along with the person. Other regional countries use to employ this practice.

    • Eagle & Buffalo (23/01/2022, 15:28) Like (2) Dislike (0) Reply
      @E. Leonard, real talk. I hear you. The BVI dropped the ball when it comes to managing its workforce. Poor planning, projection, anticipation, etc, are some factors for the poor management. Proper planning prevent piss poor performance. This is an apt alliteration for labour management in the BVI. It is not too late to surmount this gross oversight.

      [Let’s lead like eagles, not careen off the cliff like buffaloes]
  • Citizen (23/01/2022, 14:15) Like (2) Dislike (4) Reply
    Head hunt! They can’t even walk a few steps comfortably, you will be in caves for ever
  • strawberry (23/01/2022, 14:58) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    Go back and stay with Kwame in Atlanta
  • josiah'sbay (23/01/2022, 18:54) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    Global economy doesn't means global competition for employees. If you're small, lack sufficient resources and don.t protect your people you are simple giving away your piece of the pie. The ones who claim that they are being treated un fairly give them 5 to ten years of stability, a good salary and promising future then tell them that they are going to be replaced with a better version of themselves you'll see who cries about unfairness.
  • PT09 (23/01/2022, 20:21) Like (4) Dislike (1) Reply
    @Savage, Yes the bvi is beautiful, the women are beautiful as well but nature little secret is that most "born here" ah idiot and will stay so until they realize that the Caribbean does not stop at beef island If you feel this way about the BVI why don't you and your kind go back you came from, You guys call down the BVI every chance you get but is still hear living around us if you hate it this much leave we won't miss you, You are not going to leave because the US dollar has you bound. some of you act like you are doing us a big favor by being here.
  • lodger (23/01/2022, 22:17) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Head hunting implies trying to persuade someone to leave their present job. That then leaves the company you poach them from short of staff. What do they do then to fill the post?
  • head hunter (24/01/2022, 03:01) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    It seems as if there is currently a dearth of aviation certified/qualified or non-interested local persons. A head hunter, a third-party recruiter, job is to identify, screen and recommend qualified personal to an employer. And with a dearth of qualified locals, a head hunter, perhaps, would not have any more success than an in-house recruiter. Does the the BVI have a list of qualified BVI aviation personnel? Agree with E. Leonard that the BVI did a piss poor job of identifying needed skillsets/jobs and effectively training and educating a pool of qualified local personnel to fill them. The pool of qualified candidates lags the need in some instances to fill position. It is a critical and vexing issue that needs urgent attention. Consequently, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labour/workforce need to collaborate on how to quickly address this issue.
  • Fax remain (24/01/2022, 08:16) Like (1) Dislike (0) Reply
    All the BVI love they speak about, a lot of born here don’t like other born here. Simple
  • @ @@ SAM (24/01/2022, 13:24) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    ALL U AND OTHERS LIKE YOU DOING IS EXPOSING THE GUTTER MENTALITY OF SOME OF U SO CALL BORN YA , EVERYONE KNOWS THE PEOPLE OF ANY COUNTRY HAS THE FIRST PREFERENCE SO WHY BE AGAINST SOMBODY FOR GETTING A JOB , AS LONG AS THEY ARE COMPETENT AND RESPECT WHAT THE JOB CALLS FOR AND IS WILLING TO DO AN HONEST DAYS WORK AND GIVING GOD THANKS FOR LIFE , THATS A SICK MIND


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