Public service cuts ahead? Governor says change inevitable
The question of downsizing the public service as a means of alleviating the enormous strain placed on the public purse has long been a weighty one for consecutive administrations in the BVI.
Currently, more than 3,000 persons make up the category of public officers in the BVI’s workforce, and despite a serious economic downturn two years ago during the onset of COVID-19, the government declined to make any cuts to the sector.
With a decision now looming about a possible partial suspension of the BVI‘s constitution and direct rule by the United Kingdom (UK) through the Governor, concerns may only have heightened in this regard.
But Governor John Rankin — while stating that he wants an efficient public service working on the right things — did not seek to pull any punches or assuage those concerns while addressing the issue recently.
“Change is inevitable and I’m not going to predict for you precisely what size the public service will be five years now from where it is,” the Governor said in a recent interview.
The Governor noted that while there are a lot of decent, hard-working public servants, he wants them to be focused on the most effective areas for the people of the BVI.
Challenges have also arisen over protracted delays in processing work permits at the Labour Department in recent months – a humbug officials have largely blamed on a shortage of human resources, inadequate technology and poorly rolled-out government policy.
Flexibility and adaptability needed
When pressed about whether there would be a redistribution of the human resources within the public service, Governor Rankin responded by emphasising a need for adaptability.
“In a changing world, public servants like anyone else need to be adaptable and need to be flexible and one sometimes needs to surge staff into particular priority areas,” the Governor added.
He said Deputy Governor David Archer Jr remains equally committed to achieving that flexibility and to redistributing resources as the need may arise.
“I also think that having clear policies in place, making sure that work permit decisions are being made against the correct and proper criteria – without inappropriate interference in the granting of work permits but being granted according to the law – will allow Public servants to know and understand the rules within which they are working,” the Governor stated.
He continued: “If we can get both of those set up, I believe we can improve the system for work permits as in other areas.”
Governor Rankin indicated that the issue was partly a matter for the public service on one hand, and on the other hand, ensuring that the criteria agreed by ministers are clear and that staff know that they are empowered to work objectively within those criteria.
As recently as November last year, the government announced its intention to pump up to $7 million into four priority areas of the public service transformation initiative.
That initiative would have placed a focus on areas such as good governance, digital transformation of government, customer service improvement, and public administration/human resource management.
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The public service sector needs to be cut by at least 50% and get rid of the lazy, arrogant racist animals. Public service first needs to have people outside the Territory take over and put the service back in order. Efficiency with kindness. No attitude as a person in the public service is a public servant. Respect your employers.!!!
@ need: Funny thing animals know each other and their kind. I don’t understand why people feel the need to talk this way.
yes some of dem waste in the civil service needs to go but if uk tek over and fire too much people we will ketch h**l as our own people cant pay dem light bill water bill loan bill…also look for higher tax…allyo stop dere with uk rule…more like uk h**l. we need some help not uk rule.
We need help because all the billions of government revenue since the mid 80’s got wasted or stolen. It’s why our infrastructure, including our education system, is so poor. What a set of wasted opportunities.
From 2000 come forward is where this country went off track.
That is right. About the same time Fahie was in the government.
See how these expat does come into your country with hate and praying for your downfall.
Any other island state already reorganized the civil service for more challenging economic times ahead. You cannot pay 3000 salaries when the countries income is declining…spend the money on important matters such as education, infrastructure and other important matters than someone’s salary who is not performing
ITS YUH OWN PPL…FAHIE FROM TOLA!!!! WE EXPACTS CANT EVEN BUY LAND! THATS WHAT WE PRAYING FOR !! HOUSE AND LAND , NOT WASTING PRAYS ON THE DOWN FALL OF A COUNTRY WE LOVE AND CHILDREN LOVE..
10% of a country’s population employed by the government? No wonder we are broke. Government does not create business, the private sector does. We lost that concept decades ago.
It’s time we gut the public service sector. Eliminate the wasteful individuals and procedures that drive up costs and drag down our day. We THE PUBLIC watch incompetent workers push paper or attempt to navigate computer systems they do not comprehend or know how to operate.
Sorry for anyone in the government sector, but prepare to justify your “job.”
We want UK rule so take all that comes with it. When we wake up from our slumber we will find out. I saw some UK nationals over the weekend and they were walking extra hard through the place. BVI people play stupid. Barry say you’ll hear!
JJeezzz, puking again!!!!!
Weeding out is long overdue, too many staff only spend limited time at work but run their own business on Government time. Nothing has been done up to now since elected officials were afraid of losing votes. Show the hard working employees that they are seen and they will no longer have to pick up the slack of the non-performers.
As of Late, some public servants still not reporting to work or goes in when they feel like…..
Consider transferring some of the mid level BVI civil servants to other BOTs around the globe for 5-10 years to broaden their civil service careers. Reciprocity is key so some civil servants from Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman, Falklands, Gibraltar, Montserrat and Caicos should transfer to the BVI for the same reason.
VW created a mess. He implemented a bunch of ineffective policies just to satisfy his ego. Consideration never been given to good governance but only trying to be relevant .Persons applying for work permits renewal for 2 tears and cannot get it just because he was busy defending these foolish policies in the airwaves.
no more chances or time for these people locals no more in each position should have a uk person supervising them do not trust these locals at no time
Y’all still want VIP and NDP? These administrations waste so much money that the cuts were inevitable because we do not have the money that was wasted. Slow Wande and this Unity party that seized power need to get thrown out like trash.
You need to fire 50% of the customs officers. They are rude, lazy, and incompetent. Why has the UK not stepped in yet to clean up this corrupt and idiotic administration?
@About Time
You are so right. The dislike was strike i error. Most departments are bloated with over staff and no productivity. 2 hour lunches and out the door as the clock strike 4:30p. Get rid of those lethargic lazy, and rude non productive staff. Bottom Line, The Civil Service is Bloated. Needs downsizing. Governor Rankin please do something. I work in a department where everything is some body else job. When some of them is asked to do something, the answer “dat ain my job”, but they not doing anything. Just sitting around or walking from desk to desk.
Many of you talking do not understand socio-economics and are just spiteful. To fire even 10% or 300 people not only puts a strain on the economy through loss of taxes and economic spend in many areas, it creates a social challenge. We end up creating a welfare system. And now we have blindly followed the COI recommendation and stripped the legislators of the measly $125k they had to try to keep people off of the welfare system. By dumping those funds into Social Services department we have the beginning of full blown welfare system. Where people learn to live off of welfare and handouts fully. We have to be careful!
Yes we can look at letting the long tenured civil servants retire and do their own businesses while collecting retirement. But we have to be mindful of who we let go, how many we let go, what skillsets we will be losing, how it will impact our socio-economy.
Yes. We should not expect the UK to come in and wholesale fire a significant portion of the civil service. This is not the first time they have done this and will understand the burden of a mass firing….still. Vigilance is key. IF there is a takeover, we must participate in the way reorganization is carried out.
We already have a welfare state when you consider how many ppl get help directly from the ministers.
Inefficiencies in Government spending will eventually lead to collapse. Government does not produce and product or sell any services. This means that it must be lean and effective.
One of its initiatives during any period of change should be to try and shift and retrain in order to reduce blowback but even with the best of intensions some ppl will likely be asked to seek employment elsewhere.
For these ppl government must be ready to retool and retrain for something else. But ppl need to wake the f&ck up. The world is changing and is experiencing a recession. Either we drive it or be driven somewhere we don’t want to be
Ever think that maybe those fired civil servants could go get jobs in the private sector? Oh, wait, that will never happen because it would involve actual WORK!!
Wow….3,000 government employees. In a land of about 30,000, of which only about 40% are belongers (so about 12,000). Keep in mind that about 40% of people in the territory are either in school or older than 60. That would mean that there are about 7,000 employable belongers. In other words, about 40% of belongers have govt jobs….
Also, 3,000 govt employees at 25,000 a year each works out to about $ 75 million a year payroll, plus employee benefits, so BVI govt is spending about $ 100 million/year in payroll, or about 25% of it’s budget.
You are so correct except the Civil Service sector average pay is much higher than $25k a year. I would say the average is about $40k a year so the actual number is more like $125 million a year. This is money we’ll spent by the corrupt politicians to keep themselves in power so they can steal the remainder of the yearly budget. If it’s found that it’s best to keep these people employed then make them actually work. Fix the roads, fix the sewage, fix the water, fix the trash, fix the healthcare. Otherwise throw them out.
Everyone should issue their resignation and reapply for their job if it still exists. A lot of people today aren’t qualified for their job. And a great number of jobs aren’t even necessary.
Pretty much but importantly this is why we have very low rates of homelessness and traditionally low rates of crime. This huge government employment is a major factor of the territory’s high standards of living.
I support constitutional reform and temporary takeover of the BVI, however not any possible plans to cut the civil service.
Cutting the civil service will cause catastrophic damage to the social fabric of the Virgin Islands. The Government is a major employer, the largest employer as a matter of fact. It is better for our economy to keep the civil service at its current size.
If 100’s or even 10’s of people are fired just to facilitate cuts, there will be a long struggle for many of those persons to find other local employment. There just isn’t enough jobs available in the private sector.
Rouge individuals (people who exhibit disrespectful behaviour, don’t perform their duties and so on) are the ones that should be fired and replaced with more deserving candidates for the job.
So according to your ” economics “, the answer is to make it bigger.
Brilliant. Are you currently running government?
If there are cuts, most of the people let go will be those near or at retirement age who continue to sit around drawing fat salaries while doing very little work. They won’t need other jobs because they’ll continue to draw a pension; they’re not going to be starving in the streets. This fear is overblown.
OK, keep everybody on the payroll, but where will the money come from? You have arrival tax, depatture tax, cruising tax, import tax, tax on sending money via Western Union, plus taxes with held by employers not always remitted, and outstanding property taxes. Offshore banking revenues are down, and may continue to decrease.Where is the government going to get $ 125 million yearly for its payroll? And, what about paying for it’s use of utilities, insurance, maintenance? Funds for infrastructure projects?
If you know how and where the BVI govt can secure this kind of revenue, run for government
What we should be addressing is that the cost of living is so high with no increase in minimum wages.
There must be an increase in wages if people are to survive in everyday life.
Things are increasing without care of survival for anyone who is not financially stable.
to wise up, I agree with the raise of salary to compensate for the inflation of prices in the
BVI. The government also have to execute the price control bill and bring the cost down. there’s a lot of price gouging going on.
And here comes these english men who are totally disconnected from the Black VI humanity, who are planning and implementing more severe suffering upon us…. There has never, ever been a white man and or english man who has ever had the interest of Black Virgin Islanders, or Black people in general, and the governer is naturally displaying such.
the BVI Post Office and all staff for a start. They are irrelevant now.
ok P stoutt we hear you
Education have a few lazy folk to.. like the monkey that’s in there to start with. Goes and comes as she feels…
Chop away.
Forgot in the circus the main culprit of – poor business environment, rude tourist experience, absent and inoperative infrastructure. One could say they the pallbearers of the $billions gov buried and lost.
Current system
Welfare
Retooled economy (dependent on efficient civil service)
Expand tourism, retirement housing, 2nd home industry. Pray for finance Industry but we know where prayer get us. Work to your strength – tourism.
SOOO when BVI people are layed off from government jobs enmass and this being their home, enter into the private sector there’s going to be a serious challenge to justify handing out any more work permits.
More so if the fraud in that system comes to an end by employers where they make up skill requirements in order to import foreigners with basic skills for manual labor and cashier jobs.
Some people never learn digging two graves…
When all these people are fired does that mean that the Virgin Islands will become a welfare state? Will the Governor put in place a food stamp program and other financial assistance so that people will not be homeless and starved? All these things have to be considered. Most people are already barely surviving from pay check to pay check. No one is going to escape the hardships. It is going to have a ripple effect. All of us who are digging ditches for others make sure and dig one for your selves as bad as you think it is it will get worse
A bunch of silly comments from people who don’t know anything about the public service; most likely expats who are envious. If the public service is reduced, those public officers coming for your jobs and there will be hell to pay if they don’t get it. The public service is about 2500 officers and the salary for the most hardworking public officers is insulting requiring many to have a second job. Start reducing wasteful spending of politicians whose focus is mainly on re election.
What bothers me is how so many workers have that attitude of entitlement. They go to work and accomplish nothing. They bring nothing with them, but want to take everything. They waste, misuse and abuse the resources at their disposal.
I would like to see people being paid for what they accomplish on the job and not just the number of hours they spent on the job.
For example, if your job is to process work permits and you’re on the job 8 hours and didn’t complete processing not even one, you should be dismissed. And that means you do whatever necessary to accomplish it, like call the permit holder, build a rapport and let them know if any documents are needed or missing. And until it is complete, you have not accomplished the task at hand. We have to seek and achieve results.
Civil servants are also famous for victimizing businesses, stop it. I will add though, that there are countless ones that do not. We can do better BVI.
Instead of criticizing the civil service, “Maths”, how about understanding WHY, our people is in the civil service in the first place?
Many Belonger’s once worked in the private sector, and were met with blatant,and outright prejudice, discrimination, and downright racism, because they were,firstly, Belongers, and secondly, had last names that are tied into vast wealth- real estate and otherwise!
The civil service losing many workers will force many of our people to lose their homes as private sector jobs, will be few, hard, an in between to find, while at the same time causing uncomfortable working realities for our people.
I believe, many Belongers will migrate, due to frustration in unemployment woes.
It’s a sad day for Belongers in the BVI and beyond..
Planes and boats leaving everyday.
I’m a Government Employee and some of the stuff in the blogs are not all true. There are hard-working people, some of you people act as if any Industry is perfect.
For example, have you been to the bank lately and the service that you get? People are outside in long lines like cattle. can you actually call any of these bank numbers directly and speak to someone? You would call these published numbers and can never speak to a service rep to ask simple questions, instead of a 1-800 just to get something done then still have to go to the local branch.
Let’s move on how is your customer service at your phone service provider? I would assume horrible, I’ve been to many places in the private sector and can Government a run for their money. Before some of you, people go spewing send home hard-working people to think about yourself. Yeah, there are lazy staff and some honestly need to be sent home but consider those that put in the time. Unfortunately, if they were to start cutting some employees the same club members who just chat on their phones all day would remain. The heads of Government Hire the lazy ones for political reasons and give them high salaries over those who actually put in the work. There are lots of hatred on both sides of the spectrum and this is creating a very toxic environment here in the BVI. I don’t think we want homeless and poverty-stricken added to the list of issues that are plaguing society.
is goverment going to cut back on some of these high rents they paying all over the place also,, jus a question …
This is a small jurisdiction with very limited jobs in the private sector when all the locals who spend most of their monies in the Virgin Islands are not working who will support businesses? Every unemployed person cannot have a business. UK is also going to criple our Financial Services because they have been trying to do thst for years. I am looking at this open mindly. I just cannot see a Uk take over to benifit any one whether you are a local or an expat. As poor strugling people we all are going to siffer. What about the children whose parents will be out of jobs. I am wondering what is going on here. Uk is coming to help make us beggars and there will be no one to beg from. No! I do not see a UK take over as being productive for the Virgin Islands. Uk please leave us to paddle our canoe if you realy care for us. Though it is hard we are managing. You are not coming to make things better you are coming to squeeze us.
You want change then “Clean slate” period!
No need to complain now. Most of them were been paid for almost a year during the lockdown. No work but full pay. As a matter a fact most of them were forcing the country into lock down encouraging lockdown because their pay were sure while the majority suffer. So if the country run for a year with most of them at home and been paid, it means a whole lot of them ain needed,and don’t come with this work from home nonsense, that’s a cap out.
Nothing wrong with the civil service size. What you need is accountability and productivity and some reallocation. Workers needs to produce. Supervisors needs to ensure productivity and hold employees accountable. If you are not producing after training and intervention, then you gots to go.
Very, very bad ixea gov. HOPE YOU RECONSIDER. You, the COI AND THE UK GOVERNMENT APPEAR TO BE INTENT ON TAKING US BLACK VIRGIN ISLANDERS BACK TO THE ERA WHERE SLAVE HOLDERS WERE PAID OFF HANDSOMELY WHILE THE BLACK WAS NOT EVEN OFFERED FEACES, BUT LEFT TO WHITHER AND DIE. THE BRITS WERE HEARTLESS THEN AND REMAIN REUTALLY HEARTLESS TO THIS DAY. THERE ARE MULTIPLE REASONS WHY YOUR INTENT ON CUTTING PUBLIC SERVICE IS A VERY, VERY BAD ONE.
HE WHO HAS NEVER FEELS OR KNOWS WHAT IT IS TO WANT AND NEED. HE WHO FEEDS REGULARLY NEVER FEELS THE PAINS OF HUNGER. WHY ARE YOUR KIND STILL SO HATEFUL OF BLACKS?
Not surprised at all. Too often I have visited government offices/departments and observed the top-heavy staffing; the public servants standing around ‘licking law,’ eating at their desks in the company of their colleagues, and just pussy-footing with no work to do. At some office places the young ladies stand in the hot sun outside of the buildings, chatting with the male security guards. Or the employees surf the net, boredom lining their faces. Not to mention the new ‘appointment system’ since the arrival of Covid-19, resulting in empty offices, hour-long appointments for ten minute consultations.
Many sit twiddling their pens and wait for retirement to kick in, and they say so upfront. And yet you hear them fussing, “we ain’t get our increment.”
Wouldn’t be surprised if half of the workforce would do a more efficient job with better quality customer service.
It is quite clear what they want happen, do to and take from us.
We began this life’s journey with nothing, zero, zilch, nada!!!
After laboring for centuries for the brits for free and then paying off the slave holder, they left us nothing.
We built what we now have from scratch. It is now quite horrifying that some very horrible people, mostly whites, want to come in now and take it all away.
The comments illustrate their intentions completely. If they act, we would be hungry and being trampled beneath thier feet today.
learn how to speak proper english you poor colored local, is your name mamadou?