Alliance defends legislators’ salary review amid public backlash
Opposition members of the Alliance have defended the process that led to salary increases for legislators, insisting the review was transparent and conducted by independent professionals.
Opposition Leader and Sixth District Representative Myron Walwyn said the increases followed a comprehensive review that also covered public officers and were based on recommendations from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
He explained that the process began before the 2023 general elections as part of a wider salary review for civil servants initiated under the Deputy Governor’s Office and the Ministry of Finance.
“It was done by PricewaterhouseCoopers. They looked at the fact that when the salary increase for civil servants would take place, if members, for instance, making $36,000 as their base salary, you would have junior officers making more than members of the House of Assembly as base salary. You really can’t have that,” Walwyn stated.
Walwyn explained that the PwC advice was accepted for salary increases for civil servants and members of the House.
“The advice to increase members’ salaries came from those persons who met with the House of Assembly. And the advice as well came at what level we should take it, based on their findings or the findings of PricewaterhouseCoopers that conducted the research,” the Opposition Leader shared.
He added that the exercise was not secret, adding that “members of the House were in no way involved in who gets what, not even for ourselves.”
At-Large Representative Stacy ‘Buddha’ Mather said the public’s frustration was understandable but argued that the process followed the rules of the Westminster system.
“I understand the public’s outrage. We are in committee right now in the House of Assembly, and it is not public. It needs to be public. When the salaries were discussed, they were discussed following the system the way it is. The system needs to change,” Mather stated.
He also revealed that he publicly disclosed his salary months before the Auditor General’s report was released. “When people say that no one spoke, I spoke. I can only and will only answer the questions that are asked of me,” he added.
Second District Representative Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull clarified that the figures circulating online had been misrepresented.
“Numbers are not words. Numbers cannot be manipulated like words. The headlines said legislators went from $36,000 to $133,000. But when you look at it, my salary as a backbencher was $36,000, plus allowances that took me to $99,740. The increase took me to $133,000, including allowances,” Turnbull explained.
He added that the entire process added approximately $803,000 to the $10 million salary adjustment for public officers. “We have to start raising the bar, raising the standard, and holding members you elected to account to ensure that we are doing the job you are paying us for,” he said.
The salary review, conducted in 2023, was part of a wider pay adjustment exercise across the public service. However, it sparked intense public criticism after details of the legislators’ increases surfaced last month.
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Very well specified,defending the people’s welfare is priority, i won’t be surprised , to hear all the negative thoughts and energy,some going entertain about this effect, including calling reborn Tortolians island people!!
So if politicians got the top of the scale why didn’t the civil servants as well.
this is where the outrage came from. every civil servant was placed at the very beginning of their scale regardless of experience or years on the job but they placed themselves on the very top of all their scales. why the double standards? put everybody to the top of their scale then
Set of greedy thieves
I am not surprised – all of the same mindset. There is no justification for that level of increase when you are living in a country where many are struggling to survive. Look at pensioners – many of them are barely surviving on the little pittance they are getting.
Take a comparative look at the rest of the Caribbean and you will see that our politicians are the highest paid in a country with under 40 000 people
I will not be voting for any of the 13 raccoons in the house of assembly come next election. Someone bring out new faces. Where are the independents?
There are no excuses, justifications nor statuary representations for that level of salary increases, while senior citizens, pensioners some very old, feeble and other retirees who cannot survive on their monthly incomes due to the small amounts, which are a constant cause of financial depravity and insufficiencies across the board.
Meanwhile, the elected and elite few propelled themselves to the extreme top of their salary scales, while for decades the average teacher, retirees, pensioners and others ask for a crumb or two, but never receive.
Indeed, the brutal cost of living, the astronomical risings of medical imperatives and the over-all cumulative effects of inflation have created a level of silent suffering not before seen existing in the Virgin Islands pre emancipation.
In truth, the contributing builders of the nation have now become the struggling out- cast and uncared for..
When will parity, fairness, empathy and equality reach our shores and the pockets of those who now suffer complete hardship in silence daily, after contributing an entire life of service and more to the building of the country?
You had a chance to rise and serve the people as you proclaimed to do, but you chose to stand with the other Ten behind of closed doors and accept the 2nd half of the Greedy Bill despite public out cries.
Do you mean to tell me none of you thought about the back lash and walk away from the round table? Not one? It goes to show you have no fairness to the voters; they are all suckers. Suckers who will get angry for a few weeks and cool off and go their way.
All 13 pursue their own interest and run with it, while the same golden Gems they keep using to uplift their stature, suffer on pensions that can’t buy groceries.
They disregard others’ well-being. It goes beyond basic needs or reasonable ambition. It’s just Wrong!! Most of them are set for life. So why risk it all?
I don’t care to support anyone sitting in the house at present. Let’s take some time to cool off and seek a fresh crew that the clubs have not infiltrate.
politicians should not need any salary in the BVI HOA. They have all earned the privilege of serving the voters in their BVI country and that is more than sufficient compensation.
and raising the minimum wage to at least $10 a hour was a major issue? they got hundreds of thousands and we got couple cents.
HOA13
No votes for any of these until they give back those raises and pensions and offer a new way of thinking. We need new thinking in a new HOA.
De Castro, Sharie
Dawson, Karl
Fraser, Julian
Hodge-Smith, Luce
Mather, Stacy “Buddha”
Penn, Marlon
Rymer, Kye
Skelton, Ronnie
Smith, Lorna
Turnbull, Melvin
Walwyn, Myron
Wheatley, Natalio
Wheatley, Vincent
The raises I have no issues with due to the fact that now it is more in-line with what directors are paid for the level of responsibilities (not withstanding that the current ministers lack substance).
As for the Greedy Bill, again; Luce, Lorna, Karl and Stacy DO NOT QUALIFY!!! So stop spreading misinformation and go play back the tapes on that debate to hear who said what!!
Ask the one’s who qualify for the Golden Parachute what they gonna do! Remember Natalie said he would do before elections and now his words have conveniently changed….hmmmmm
You guys need to use your brain. These guys got a raise effective 1 Jan 2024. This is almost 2yrs ago and if it was not for the AG Report we wouldn’t have known. Salaries raised 18months ago and Alliance formed 10 months ago and Leader of the Opposition taken over 6mths ago. Do the math, follow the money and stop being fools. Did Myron take tbe Leader of Opposition post because he needed tbe money? He essentially got an 80k raise just by changing posts. The other 2 are eyeing Ministerial salaries hence their alleigance. Follow the money!¡!!