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