Untrue! Gov’t political advisers will not collectively earn $1M yearly
Premier Andrew Fahie has dispelled claims that his government’s initiative to introduce ministerial political advisers will cost as much as one million dollars per year.
A cabinet document recently disclosed that the government’s nine advisers are expected to be paid as much as $120,000 annually.
Since then, residents have come out in swift backlash at what they largely felt was an abuse of the public purse by the Virgin Islands Party (VIP) government.
But Fahie, in an interview on JTV’s The Big Story, insisted the figures are not expected to be in the region of $1 million as critics are contending; noting that not all advisers would be on the same salary scale.
Two-tier remuneration system
According to Premier Fahie, persons who will serve in those newly-created posts will function under a two-tier payment system. He said this system will see his three advisers earning between $79,440-$120,000 per year, while advisers for the Deputy Premier, the Cabinet ministers, and the junior ministers will earn $60,408-$84,408 annually.
He said this salary scale is along the line of what most senior public officers currently earn.
The Premier also stated that no new monies were needed for the appointments since funding was expected to be drawn from each minister’s ‘consultancy funds’ allocation.
“So this is not any shallow thinking, so to speak, or any attempt just to piggyback on the public’s purse as has been implied by others,” Fahie argued.
Advisers being appointed to fill deficiency
The Premier explained that the advisers will get government ministers in line to ensure they can carry out the duties and functions of ministries that have expanded significantly over the years; even as the ministries’ resources have not expanded.
According to Fahie, the advisers are not expected to be “involved in [any] political party, per se”, but instead are being put in place to assist this and future governments.
“Overall, there is a deficiency with making sure the needs of the public are served in a more timely manner because of the lack of resources, so it is a way to help the people of the Virgin Islands even more,” he stated.
No need for parliamentary approval
He further argued that the matter does not need to be brought to the House of Assembly since it only dealt with the Cabinet — the executive arm of government.
The post, the Premier expressed, aims to bring more efficiency to the BVI’s residents.
He also reminded persons that there will be an integrity committee in place to ensure value for money was being achieved in the appointments.
Outrageous! Penn calls on gov’t to rescind ‘political advisers decision’
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Let us do that maths and factcheck king liard
Fortunately for everyone , this shower of crooked incompetents will be long gone before they can give non jobs to more of their cronies.
When will the BVI government give teachers a decent salary?
How “will these political advisors get the government ministers in line” since these political ministers make and break laws to please themselves? This is the reason the COI is here!
How can we invest those salary in education?
God help the BVI if voters fall for this utterly mendacious, horrible nonsense…..
So we elected these people to hire someone else to do their job? Why don’t we just elect the advisors?
Exactly!!! (Also,sorry I was trying to reply and hit the dislike by mistake)
The “political advisors” are simply there to help re-election. Their job is to go between the money donors and the politician and make sure the grease ends up in the right spot.
But that is what your very own cabinet minutes say. There will be a total of 9 political advisers (3 for the Premier, one for each other minister and one for each Junior minister) and their pay should not exceed 120k. Do the maths. The potential pay actually exceeds a million dollars.
BVI our bad decisions are coming home to roost. We elected people who cannot manage the country and we knew that. Now we have to pay other people the same salary that we are paying them to do the work for them.
Some were saying drain the swamp but they had no idea how to run a country and most of what they were talking was total rubbish. rubbish!
We allowed the loud mouth few to mislead us and they are doing the same thing with the vaccine efforts.
Thank you! Let them deal with it now.
In a time where the high school is still not fully functional or furnished 4 YEARS after Hurricane Irma, the government has told people who have been left unable to feed their families due to loss of work as a direct result of Covid that there is no money to support them AND our only hospital is in dire need of support in an un-predictable and un-precedented global outbreak…. any monies that were in the ministers ‘consultancy funds’ could be redirected to MORE IMPORTANT THINGS….. Mr. Fahie – all of what you said are excuses. Despite the diabolical condition of the education system here… we are smarter than that.
Andrew we know that you are not telling the truth because your lips are moving.
I just want my increments. I feel like Billy button working for nothing. smh
Here are the qualifications to be one of these “ consultants “.
Your name must be Fahie, Vanterpool, ONeal, Malone, Smith, Skelton, Cline ( especially Skelton-Cline,) You can fill in the rest yourselves. You know who they are.
You forgot Rhymer, DeCastro, Harrigan and Todman.
Sprauve, Sylvester, Maduro
so those amounts listed doesn’t actually come up to 1 million? Raise the minimum wage for people actually doing hard work, so we can actually afford to eat and not just y’all fattening y’all pockets off our earnings smh, to go on luxury vacations!
WHO WAS IT THAT SAID, YOU HIERD A MESSANGER TO DO A JOB, THEN THE MESSANGER IS ASKING FOR SOMEONE TO RUN EARUNS.?
An integrity committee made up of the very politicians who have been exposed by the COI for breaking every rule in the book. Add this to there being no bidding process to the appointment of advisors and we have the perfect recipe for a disaster. Hopefully the COI will short circuit all this nonsense and shit them all down
No… I’m sure Mr. Sylvester and Ms. Lake would be part of the integrity committee….
PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW THE VIP TO USE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY FOR REELECTION CAMPAIGN FUNDS
Anansi gon work some bush mathematics for yall now.
If each consultant was paid the MINIMUM outlined by Mr. Fahie, it would be an annual sum of: $781,992. This is before benefits. No matter what you say Mr. Fahie this is reckless spending and the money needs to be redirected.
With the COI crawling up their butts and they pull this ? They deserve to be locked up.
What a joke! And who are these advisors and who will appoint them. IMHO ministers should not be voted into office if they need ADVISORS… And who will advise the advisors? WTF
So if the Ministers are elected to work, and need advisors outside of the technical staff in the Ministries, probably the ministers have just made themselves obsolete.
Just vote for the advisers then. Job done!!
This guy is becoming more of an irritant every time he speaks. This type of willful behavior followed by stupid justification attempts is what causes revolution and civil disorder.
Far more untruth than bombs coming out he mouth. Look in he mouth you see all them untruth pile up in there. He just letting them out one by one like a machine.
I hope the public will get an chance to see all of them and there faces cause they are getting paid with tax players money pure bull crap
I personally feel that this self serving career politician should gracefully bow out of the government to save the little human credibility he still have. What ah waste of voters votes in high disappointment. How can you encourage and mentor any young man on the side of the road? They are listening and watching you dàily and more so you dont have a minute to spare to talk to them one on one after getting into office. You act as someone who is thoughtless and without rational, is it because you are in over your head and CAN NOT deal with situations or have NO clue to of how to solve issues in the country? You have learned NOTHING with your experience. STOP IT!
I have given thought to tis and concluded that his highly paid by our taxes consultant,under the guise of anointed instructs him and twirls our Premier like a marionette. With instructions to do as I say do or I well tell tell till yo belly swell.
Andrew gas c always been a farcce,force, by design or byintelkect or both.
Hus district constituents are to blame for his continued staying power.
People l ecwho expect little are consumed with their own greed and selfishness and votes for envelopes . Simply look around his district where he has been rep forever. His efforts at dumbing down the school and the children, what could be worse. A destroyed coast line from Towers to Frenchmans Cay…zero preservation of artifacts and land marks in the district and on and on..Nothing beneficial for the District as a
whole.
I wonder if the BVI notice this guy a dictator and a tyrant?
Andrew gas always been a farce, by design or by lack of intellect or both.
His district constituents are to blame for his continued staying power.
People l who expect little are consumed with their own greed and selfishness and votes in exchange for envelopes . Simply look around his district where he has been rep forever. His efforts at dumbing down the school and the children, what could be worse. A destroyed coast line from Towers to Frenchmans Cay…zero preservation of artifacts and land marks in the district and on and on..Nothing beneficial for the District as a
whole.
Smerf is just trying to put a spoke in the wheel of progress. If you guys the he is genuine you got another thing coming. The money and post was already budgeted for. It’s a change of job title. Yes it may help with his election campaign but by and large it’s measure put into place as a result of the COI. Anyone remembered the years of NDP?….. I dont. Be careful what we wish for. Smurf voted fir the greedy bill.