Gov’t suspending hirings to ensure no public officer loses their job
The administration complex in Road Town houses several government offices. (GIS photo)
Premier Andrew Fahie said despite the ongoing economic challenges, his administration is on a quest to keep every public officer employed.
He said this means, among other things, not employing any new government workers unless absolutely necessary.
Premier Fahie gave that indication while responding to questions about whether the salary scale of the public service would be affected given the state of the economy.
He said: “Right now we are not in that direction as yet with the public service … We are trying to make sure that we do all that is possible within the law that is fair and creative to avoid us reaching to that point or to having to lay off persons.”
“I am trying to make sure that not one single public officer loses their job. I have been accused of not approving new posts. But, I told them if we continue to increase the recurrent of government and have to pay more persons [while] getting less money because of COVID-19, then we would have to make some decisions on who will stay. So, only the areas that we necessarily realize that are urgent right now that we are filling because we cannot contribute to our own demise,” Fahie added while speaking at a recent press conference.
Keeping cost down
In the meantime, the leader of government business said his administration is doing all in its power to keep the recurrent budget down.
“We are daily looking at the finances of the country. We are monitoring it, as we say in our culture ‘like a hawk’, and I know we have a lot of work to do. But I am optimistic in terms of what’s ahead in terms of the revenues,” he stated.
The Premier also addressed the matter involving the BVI Airport Authority’s recent circular which states that staff members’ work hours will be reduced from 40 hours per week to 30 hours.
It further said salaries would be paid to reflect the new hours. This change came into effect on July 1.
“I wanted to point out that the Airport Authority while the government is one of its main shareholders, it’s a corporate body. One would appreciate that they generate their own revenue and it’s no secret that there are no planes flying. So it’s an issue for them along that front,” Fahied stated.
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I hope they send home government workers who already made their 25 years from holding up space. Especially those that getting g extended contracts to only come to work and bully the young minds.send them home and let them get their pensions form holding back progress.
Why shouldn’t public officers be economically affected like everyone else? Maybe then their decisions will be more sensitive to the business community that actually generates tax revenue!
P.S. Only in the BVI could the statement “work hours will be reduced from 30 hours per week to 40 hours” make sense. The world is truly upside down in “Nature’s Little Secret”. And it keeps getting littler and littler.
How NICE!
I say this with the GREATEST of sarcasm as Government destroys the private sector.
Once you completed that task, all you civil service folk will feel it!
t staff members’ work hours will be reduced from 30 hours per week to 40 hours.
Hopefully no one else is as confused on this statement from a leader on running the BVI.
Why the VIP dont layoff that useless consultant that is always on the radio beating his jaw?
The Foy needs to keep the government employees happy and paid while they sit home bumping uglies. They are his only support. While the rest of the people can’t buy food or pay bills the government employees are on an extended vacation. Does this sound like a Dictator? Of course and you all sit and complain yet do nothing. Rise up and declare All Lives Matter.
Who are the other shareholders?
We need to trim the public service by about 40%, and renegotiate the salaries of those that are retained. There are some very competent public sector employees that more than earn their high salaries, but the vast majority are lazy, have non jobs, and/or are hugely overpaid.
Now is an ideal time to reform. You see it happening in the private sector.
Hope the Government’s Consultant is the first to go ! All he does is spew rubbish and division in this place.
More signs that BVI cannot remain on sustained lock down for much longer.
so get the British to secure the borders and save several million US dollars
Sispends hiring but willing to pay millions out the door to the same set of contractors and thousands a day for barges when U.K. was free. Hat make any f’ing sense.
What about the BVI airport workers who had their salary cut by 25%? How is it they are the only ones who have suffered cut in salary ?
Plz at least you getting a paid check it have some people can’t even get a job so relax
You all have worker there over 60 years and working like 40 plus years. Free up the service and send them home.
This is a very scary approach indeed.
The job of the government is not to provide government employment. It is to govern, and use resources (including employment) where that is required to enable it to deliver the services and govern effectively.
In a time of financial crisis, the government should not be saying that it wishes to keep people in jobs regardless of whether they are required. It should be doing a route and branch review for efficiencies. It does not matter that the government is the main employer for belongers. If the job can be axed, it should be. The belonger previously in that job would then be forced to look at the private sector, and the private sector is in turn restricted from employing non-belongers where a belonger is available and qualified.
The whole economics is wrong. Government employment is not equivalent to welfare.
In fact, you would probably get a better economic effect through making the civil service 10 times more efficient and smaller, and providing some sort of universal credit in its place.
Introduce soft one time packages of voluntary leave for persons who did at least 10 years and up in government that aren’t pensionable and reach to pensionable years of 25. This will ease the strain civil service pockets. In order for things to work you will have to start thinking out of the norm. Many will be glad for this oppurtunity and you will be able to restructure the civil service to be more competent.
So why hire back persons who have already retired from the service when a current civil servant could have done the job. Why is some persons on more than one board collecting a stipend when they hold big paying jobs?
Why did the government ministers all get new vehicles?
Why the need for the barges if other services were offered?
What is the purpose of Claude Skelton-Cline?
There has not been a salary revision for the public service since 2006, they are now owed three increments going on four. Yes they are glad to have a job especially those who are working hard and not getting anywhere. The increments were promised with the 2016 to be paid and 2017 before the 2020 budget was passed. Premier stop lying to the people, your VIP administrator only looking out for your strong supporters. Look at the state of the Treasury Department disgraceable when last have you Premier visited that department.
Point 1. You are right.
Point 2. We ARE the British.