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Work permits one of Labour Dept’s biggest headaches - Dr. Pickering

Dr. Pickering making a point at last evening's meeting. Siting next to him is Labour Commissioner Janice Rymer (ag) Photo: VINO
A small number of residents turned out for the meeting. Photo: VINO
A small number of residents turned out for the meeting. Photo: VINO
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI – While work permits might be one source of income for the Virgin Islands, Minister for Natural Resources and Labour Dr. Kedrick Pickering admitted it is one of his biggest headaches, since it could spiral the Territory’s population out of control.

“Work permits are a double edged sword. Some people seem to think that Government should give out work permits because it is a source of revenue, which it probably is. But it is a source of revenue, although justifiable, is something that we have to ask ourselves how much revenue do we really want to get from work permits because a permit means that is one additional person that is coming into the country. And if we don’t decide how many persons we want to bring into the country, and at what rate we will soon be overwhelmed,” the Labour Minister told residents at a meeting held last evening, February 27, 2012 at the Sir Rupert Briercliffe Hall.

He also stated that eventually it will be one of the biggest decisions that will have to be made at some point in time.

“We have to ask ourselves who are we growing the economy for, at the same time anything that does not grow and becomes stagnant die, life does not do well in a stagnant economy….But if we don’t make decisions like those in a proactive way they are going to happen to us and the problems are going to be even worse than we might be able to cope with,” he pointed out.

Hon. Pickering added, “I am not just saying that for those who are quote unquote indigenous BVIslanders but I am saying that to persons who have chosen to live here, who have been living here for 20, 25 plus years.”

Meanwhile, the Labour Minister acknowledged that there is a situation where work permits are being used to get people into the country. “People who are paying for work permits to bring people into the country…and in some cases these people don’t even have work.”

Another vexing problem he said is the types of work permits the country issues – one being the temporary permits. According to the Minister, especially in the yachting industry, employers bring persons in on such permits under the guise that they are only going to be here for a short time.

“… and then they are getting them to stay here and they are crowding up the industry to a point where it is not attractive for BVIslanders to be in the industry. Can we afford that to continue to happen? The Financial Services have its own unique set of problems…and if we don’t address these problems they will just continue to multiply,” Hon. Pickering stated.

At the moment, the VI work force is made up of 60 percent expatriates and 40 percent Virgin Islanders.

21 Responses to “Work permits one of Labour Dept’s biggest headaches - Dr. Pickering”

  • Member of '76 (28/02/2012, 08:53) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    I am very proud of Doctor Pickering because he shows that he STANDS for somethig and would not fall for ANYTHING. I know him well from my high school days. When he found an alternate method of solving a problem, he let the teacher know that he had found another and possibly easier way of solving the problem, and so I have always admired him for it. I never had that courage. Dr. Pickering will do well and make a positive difference in that Ministry. I can see it, and I can feel it. He takes his blows when he has to, he takes responsibility for his actions, and he believes in honesty and transparency. It is dissappointing to see such a small turn out here with all the complaints you read in blogs, hear at the office, and on the streets. Dr. Pickering is trying to keep us up to date and informed. Let us get out to these meetings and let our voices be heard. Let him know what your concerns are because that is the only way things will change. Dr. Pickering is willing to make a change as he always puts it, "For our great little nation" Thank you Dr. Pickering, I know you care.
    • egg face (28/02/2012, 14:53) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      but both pickering and rymer knows not ah thing will be done to change ah ting...when the white people start calling Dr. Smith and the big island men dem funding the NDP makes a phone call its business as ususal!!!!
      • bbc (28/02/2012, 19:18) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
        i agree to some extent, but i have more confidence in Janice that the two doctors.
        • move on.com (29/02/2012, 02:52) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
          you have to be out of your mind "BBC"...give it a year Pickering will be looking for a new Commisnor of labour..lol
  • idiotproof (28/02/2012, 10:18) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Dr Pickering is making very valid points. All the spanish bars that spring up are mainly catering for expats and are staffed then by expats. Also the yachting industry bring in people for the cleaning jobs and then the people end up running the offices. Its a joke and needs to be looked at closely.
    • Movements (28/02/2012, 11:09) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      Some locals are to be blamed for this as they are the ones 'fronting' for these establishments. The Government CANNOT curb this behaviour as long as we have locals, who care more about some free .... than their country, doing nonsense and have their names on these businesses. There are also many spanish people who are belongers through ancestors so you may see them and think they not from here but they have just as much rights. Same with Serians, some of whom are belongers by length of time living here or being born here before the law was changed.
      • Not so fast (28/02/2012, 14:57) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
        SOME spanish do have their rights legitimately! However, like other islands such as St. Kitts, Antigua and Anguilla we are subject to fraudulent documentation from some spanish nationals being created in their home country. Ever heard of go to the gravesight and pick a name; then forge/falsify documents in DR to gain status in the BVI?! Don't be so niave, there are more illegal situations here than meets the eye!
  • Liat 512 (28/02/2012, 10:20) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    if they are the biggest headahe then let dem expats pack dem bags and leave now.
  • Confucius (28/02/2012, 10:24) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    The answer to the work permit situation is really rather simple ~ but there is no “overnight” fix! We cannot remove 60% of our workforce because that would also mean removing 60% of our customer base for those businesses that the work permit holders support. It also means a large chunk of our apartment rentals would be removed. To remove these people would have severe financial consequences which would bring the BVI to it’s knees. Limiting the length of time that someone can hold a work is also not feasible as few people would agree to move here to take up work, uproot their families, etc. knowing that in a few short years they would have to leave. In other words, there is no future in it for them. The quality of people we could expect draw to the BVI would (in many cases) be diminished substantially. What we MUST do ~ and we must do it NOW ~ is diversify our workforce! Currently, the vast majority of Virgin Islanders are ONLY interested in office jobs. Accountants, secretaries, lawyers, doctors, etc. There are only so many of those jobs to go around! If we diversify our interests and our career choices, our people will be able to find jobs and create their own jobs as well without any problem at all. But having 20 people fighting for one desk job is just plain stupid! We need to DIVERSIFY our workforce. We have done this to ourselves and it is not something that can be fixed overnight. Our education system needs to be diversified and children need to be given options by both the education system and their parents. Parents need to stop putting the notion into their children’s heads that ONLY an office job is good enough for a Virgin Islander! Not everyone is best suited to an office job! Once we diversify our educational system and offer choices to the students, we will find that our youth unemployment woes will level out. Young people graduating high school will be qualified to fill some of the the jobs offered and outside employees will not be needed. They can also elect to further their education in DIFFERING fields after they have graduated high school. Job diversification is an absolute MUST if we do not want to become the minority in our own country. We as a community need to understand that we have gotten to where we are through the help and efforts of expats. Looking at our current work permit situation as a “headache” or “problem” is a pretty negative outlook. We have failed to train our young people in the areas where jobs can be found and which are abundant! Whether we like it or not, we are a multicultural country and it is high time that we learn to show a lot more tolerance for the expats we have INVITED to our shores. It is also high time we reassess our own outlook on life and our career expectations and what can be REASONABLY EXPECTED. Not all of us can work for government. Not all of us can be office workers. That is simply not REASONABLE ~ nor are all of us best suited to those kinds of career paths. We need to WAKE UP and start diversifying our career choices or nothing will change ~ EVER!
    • Movements (28/02/2012, 11:13) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      I couldn't say it any better! Some sit around waiting on a govt. contract or easy job somewhere. They have opportunities to do other things but want to pick and choose because they from here. Then these same ones complain when they see expats working hard and making a living, when they themselves turned a blind eye at that opportunity. LAZINESS and ENTITLEMENT are our enemies and until that changes, they can keep complaining because businesses will continue to import labour if they can't find it locally. The Government understands this so balling to them won't help.
      • SOME DUDE (28/02/2012, 13:44) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
        but look at this too, the other problem is would the employer pay good! na sa!he goin want to pay the minimum, so he know locals don't want the minimum so the employer goin to look for expart to pay less! i really think the answer is to create more jobs from now on and lower the permit rate being allowed.
    • @confucius (28/02/2012, 13:37) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      I agree with you because, I feel it deep down. Vocational School was set up to help with the diversification but people look down on many that graduate from there. I know many that graduated and applied for many jobs but people have this mind set in Tola that once you school there you are dumb. Not many students are academical but people don't want to see that or hear about anything else. People want to see the high grades and the degrees. The Government say they willing to help with small business but as much as I wanted to open a hairdressing place I didn't know where to turn or how to get a business plan. I didn't know where I would get the money to rent a shop. I can also draw and make art but the government does pick who they want to take part in certain things. Then it got some bad minded people in some of them departments if you go in to ask a question they act like you begging food but you just need the information to get a lil job to get your own food. My friends can do plumbing and carpentry jobs but some people would say, -you don't have experience and don't give them the job. So i say help the people. Spend the money not on contracts to rich people but on the poor ones trying to make it. I think about leaving many times because when people here make you feel like you are nothing I can only imagine what the expats feel. I would not encourage sending out the expats. They bring in business for the country. There money keep shops going. True thing because it have some BVI people that don't want to pack bags in a supermarket, clean boats that the tourist like. Some Tola people see some job as small. It is a job and all some of us want is to be able to survive. Some of these things are why the young boys stealing and girls selling their bodies. The problem is bigger than Dr. Pickering mention.
  • hmf (28/02/2012, 10:29) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    The turnout was and will continue to be poor because the people that criticize and bad talk “island people” are cowards… they are the same ones smiling up in your faces everyday but talk them down behind our backs.
  • Mmm (28/02/2012, 12:37) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    We should have already had figures of what kind of population growth we can sustain and thus how many work permits etc. can be afforded each year.
    • Movements (28/02/2012, 13:17) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
      Figures? This is the BVI Government we're talking about! We don't even know how many people really live in the BVI. Just a few years ago they released the Census count for 2000 for godsake!!!! We do not keep records of ANYTHING. Everytime we have a problem, we hire consultants and form committees to figure it out and once they have, although not even accurate, we then forget about it until it comes up again. There's an argument over our Sea Ports and Airport as to how many people come through each one etc. There's an argument regarding whether cruise tourism is actually beneficial to the BVI and one way of measuring that is to figure out how many cruise visitors end up coming here on a land based vacation, spending decent money in the economy. Have we seen such figures? Do they exist? As usual, we pull numbers out of our a$$es and start arguments without knowing the true picture. This is the BVI way and as long as certain people continue to benefit from it, it will remain that way.
  • tell the truth (28/02/2012, 13:48) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    I am so sick of these work permits issue the poor local catching hell who addressing that???? the expats already control the runnings in the bvi, and the NDP so what's the point???? We know people on work permits not going get sent home or made to leave the island because they go to labour, lobour will tex them side and they stay right here...then the local emplyer looks bad.
  • Confucius (28/02/2012, 15:18) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    To the young person who wrote that they wanted to start a hair salon ~ I feel your pain. The attitude of some of our brothers and sisters towards those who have attended vocational school is truly sad. As I said, not everyone is best suited to an office job. There is no society in the world that does not have plumbers, electricians, hair dressers, mechanics, street sweepers, etc. If some of us would take the time to read some of the writing of the real Confucius’, they would see the wisdom of his thoughts. Every single person we have in our society ADDS VALUE to our society provided they are gainfully employed. People deserve your respect regardless of the job they hold, the house they live in, the colour of their skin or where they are from. WE ALL ADD VALUE and have a place in society. If there were no hairdressers or barbers, we would all look a mess! If there were no plumbers, carpenters, masons or roofers ~ where would we live? NOBODY has the right to look down upon anyone who is trying to make an HONEST living and it is well past time that all Virgin Islanders started to spend their energies to help lift each other up rather than knock everyone down. We have seen the result of our current attitudes. We have young people thiefing left and right. We have drug dealers in all levels of society and we have politicians who have ignored all of it while the moral fabric of our society has crumbled around us. NOBODY IS BETTER THAN YOU OR ME ~ NOBODY! We are all human beings and as long as we each respect one another, obey the laws of the land and the laws of God, we will all prosper ~ TOGETHER! Respecting one another and earning an honest living through hard work and diligence is the ONLY way any society can truly flourish. We have to stop making excuses for our young people who go down the wrong path and hold them accountable for their wrongdoings. We also need to try to help those who just want to find a job and who are prepared to work their way up the ladder of success. So hold your head high. One of these days, you WILL find a way to open your own hairdressing place and I’m sure you will do very well. Just never lose track of your dreams. By the way, you write a much better letter than 90% of the college graduates I know. For the most part, their English skills are very sadly lacking. So don’t let anyone tell you you are dumb!
  • Not2Sure (28/02/2012, 16:27) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    If work permits are such a hassle, why not simply abolish them? In most countries it is the *immigration department*, and not the labour department, who decides which foreigners are permitted into the country to work. I have never understood why we do it backwards in BVI.
  • One eye (28/02/2012, 20:09) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Come on my Caribbean brothers and sisters why are you all always fighting down each other????? My black brothers and sisters are NOT the problem, it’s the Americans and Europeans who do not look like us that are making the real money and are a serious threat and that needs to be address…..wake up TOLA
  • the cat mother (29/02/2012, 03:24) Like (0) Dislike (0) Reply
    Another problem with these people on work permits is in the restaurants where they work they get their tips ripped off. So customers should be made aware of what the service charge or tips section added to we bills is all about.


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