BVI News

Too hard to do business in BVI! Slow permit processing burden people

Speaker Julian Willock

Former Speaker of the House of Assembly Julian Willock has bemoaned the lack of ease in doing business in the BVI, particularly as it relates to the processing of migrant workers. 

The former House Speaker said while he appreciated that the Labour, Immigration, and other departments need to do their necessary checks and balances, other countries with much greater populations are able to have documents turned around much faster than the BVI, despite having millions of persons applying for these things every day. 

“Something has to be fundamentally wrong, we have to make it easier to do business in this jurisdiction,” Willock said during an appearance on the Speak Out BVI radio show.

“The burden on the people whereby your work permit application or renewal is not ready; you have to go and pay for time consistently, you go back to Labour (department), it’s not ready – those are burdens on the people,” Willock, who is also businessman, expressed. 

When asked by host Sam Henry what he would do to remedy the situation as an elected representative, Willock volunteered that he would have to get someone in there to see what the challenges are. “I’ve spoken to many of them in Labour, Immigration, visa office, and they always tell me ‘we are short-staffed’, ‘we are backed up’, ‘this person is on vacation’,“ Willock said.

He argued that if human resources are causing the issue, then perhaps this should be dealt with directly. 

The former Speaker also questioned whether technology could possibly be used to improve the processing of permits. “Instead of having 10 people, maybe we only need three,” he posited.

According to Willock, there must be some deliberate effort by the Labour Ministry, or by heads of departments to simplify things and speed things up.

The former Speaker said his criticisms were not a knock on the Immigration Department’s leadership or any of those departments. Willock made it clear he was not casting aspersions on anyone. 

“I’m just saying that those are areas that we need to look at so that we can remain competitive in the BVI,” he argued.

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33 Comments

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  1. WARNING! says:

    The biggest mistake the BVI would make would be to elect someone like this man. The VIP made him speaker and we saw what a mess that was. Leave Julian Willcock where he is.

    Like 58
    Dislike 8
  2. A disgrace says:

    When I look at his * face all I could remember is his terrible behavior before the Commission of Inquiry. I was ashamed that he was one of our leaders. I cringed for the whole thing.

    Like 66
    Dislike 6
  3. Send help Jesus says:

    Piggy wiggy looking to run. LOL. He cannot be serious. We could be crazy to elect somebody like him. If we think Andrew was bad…..

    Like 46
    Dislike 6
  4. Bull frog says:

    BVI news should let him carry his own stories on his site so he could turn around and blog l**s about himself under his own story that he write.

    Like 34
    Dislike 7
  5. Salty Fish says:

    Looking like another candidate putting their hat in the ‘ring’!

    Why do I get that continuous feeling of dread that we ain’t hit rock bottom yet!

    Like 33
    Dislike 4
  6. Wow says:

    Only now Willock notices? Must be leading quite an insulated life in his ivory towers. Suggesting some sort of audit to determine what the personel issues are is another boondoggle for a consultant whose report will likely never made public. More than a decade ago, the govt commissioned a study (final report never released) to examine the efficiency of its operation. The executive summary suggested there were about 33% too many govt staff to be do the work described outlined in departmental briefs. That suggests that people resources are abundand, but they’re not being properly managed. Should come as no surprise in the land of no accountability.

    Like 31
    Dislike 1
  7. MD says:

    You just discovered this? Its been known and raised by many for over 25 years.

    Like 24
    Dislike 1
  8. Asura says:

    One thing I like about the esteemed he bright and loves his country and he will fight

    He has my vote for sure!!!

    Like 7
    Dislike 53
  9. Illegal workers says:

    We have not forgotten how he allegedly hired illegal workers..seems that he wants to sweet talk the BVI with his bs..

    Like 27
    Dislike 3
  10. We would be nuts says:

    Look at this man’s record. Everything he touches blows up. He was the shortest serving permanent secretary and speaker of the house ever. He had to be removed from both of them because of his horrible conduct. As speaker he cost the Assembly hundreds of thousands in unnecessary law suits. The case with Mark Vanterpool alone cost the government 300k when it had nothing to do with him. He paid for legal opinions outside of the Attorney General who is there to advise the government. He took the COI lawyers to court without the permission of the Assembly and racked up over 200k in legal fees. I hope he has since paid from his own pocket.

    Is this somebody that anyone would want to represent them?

    Like 45
    Dislike 2
  11. Sword fighter lol says:

    Wigmaker needed ASAP.

    Like 9
    Dislike 2
  12. @ we would be nuts says:

    Julian was my boss at water and sewerage and he did an excellent job in turning around the Department. I heard him on an interview on BBC a few years ago and he defended our country well.

    He made us all proud. In the COI report no one said he was corrupt and the so call illegal immigrant there was nothing there and he won his case against government. Unlike so many others he is not under any investigations! BAM

    Julian is one of we just do me a favor tho run with the new party as we need fresh faces and fresh blood

    Like 4
    Dislike 43
  13. Busy Bee says:

    The esteemed one desperately wanted to run in the last election, but the party nobs wisely couldn’t see having a … and known scofflaw on its ticket.

  14. Roll eyes says:

    Nobody has to call W corrupt. That is like saying water is wet. Nobody has to tell you that.

    Like 18
    Dislike 2
  15. Finally? says:

    Indeed, the esteemed one “finally notices” that there are serious problems in the Labour Dept.
    At least this one time, the esteemed one is absolutely correct. The place is a dismal quagmire where employment hopes go to die. Losing the former commissioner is a blessing, she was a bottleneck.

    Like 6
    Dislike 3
  16. Bizzy Bee says:

    Exactly why the party would back his desire to run in the last election! Know scofflaw.

    Like 1
    Dislike 1
  17. Please ... says:

    ok Julian. thanks for blogging and speaking to yourself

    Like 12
    Dislike 1
  18. hog city says:

    He will certainly make a good premier

    Like 2
    Dislike 22
  19. Fees says:

    Has he paid his court fees yet?

    Like 16
    Dislike 2
  20. To asura says:

    When you say his country, which country exactly you talking bout?

    Like 6
    Dislike 1
  21. Reality Check says:

    I will never go back to the polls to vote for any soft candidates, No To purpits we need a strong fighter with integrity that no one has nothing on. Willock is the man now blog on that !!!!

    Like 4
    Dislike 10
  22. @ ASURA -AS USUAL says:

    YOU AIN’T TIRED OF BLOWING YOUR OWN HORN ? BUT THERE IS NO LAW AGAINST VOTING FOR YOURSELF , SO PUTV ON YOUR WIG AND ENJOY YOURSELF WITH YOURSELF ( WHAT A WASTE OF KNOWLEDGE , WISH I HAD SOME OF THE KNOWLEDGE YOU POSSESS , YOUR BEHAVIOR IS APPALLING TO SAY THE LEAST

    Like 5
    Dislike 1
  23. ?‍♀️ says:

    Vip all the way

  24. Wa*ker says:

    Am i correct in saying that he once in a position that oversaw the labour dept? Maybe he should have done something other than allegedly helping out his friends for favours

    Like 3
    Dislike 1
  25. bus nut says:

    Yes just like Myron was the shortest serving Chairman of the NDP or any political party in BVI history!!

    Like 5
    Dislike 3
  26. jane says:

    have you paid those large court fees yet ??

    Like 3
    Dislike 1
  27. Rubber Duck says:

    Its true Julian. Some people cant get workers for their girlie dive bars. I wonder who they could be.

    Like 1
    Dislike 1
  28. Yes Sir! says:

    It is the first sensible thing he said for the year. Yes, they are short staff but there is also gross underperformance within these departments that needs to be address. I know this person who came here at two weeks old and is now 21 years old, took in an application for residency in May, is now October and there is still no acknowledgement of the application.

  29. BVI hero says:

    I like how Willock stood up to the COI. We are proud of him. He needs to be the Premier, we will be much better off

    Like 1
    Dislike 6
  30. Willock the Pillock says:

    Does anybody care what this guy thinks?

    Like 1
    Dislike 1
  31. @ Willock the pillock says:

    We sure do that’s why his ratings are so high

  32. No island man says:

    A vote for julian is a vote for change

  33. Engineer says:

    By putting weak water pipes under the ground. You can’t be serious.

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