British Virgin Islands: Dr. Kedrick Pickering, Minister for Natural Resources and Labour, yesterday announced at a labour meeting held at the Abraham Leonard Community Centre in Carrot Bay, that the days of work permit exemptions being awarded as favours are over and that this decision has caused certain persons to become annoyed with him, according to a BVInews.com report.
The minister alluded to a free-for-all system which resulted in a number of exemptions being awarded previously. “If you know somebody who knows somebody, who knows somebody you were getting a work permit exemption… it was a big problem that I have faced as Minister, that is why I had to stop that,” Dr. Pickering said.
The BVInews.com report said the minister explained that previously, exemptions were earmarked for persons who resided in the territory for 20 years or more and who went through the school system or is married to a BVI Islander. However he noted that because of the over-issuing of exemptions he had to make the hard decision to curb exemption issuance. Dr. Pickering disclosed that even some of his voters expect him to favour them with exemptions for their loved ones, but announced that this was something he was not going to do.
“I get my own licks because my own people who expect favours from me because they vote for me expect me to give them work exemptions for their girlfriends, boyfriends or maid or something like that. I say I can’t do that! We have a system in place where our country is going to function where everybody is going to understand that there is justice and fairness,” he said.
At a previous labour meeting in East End last month the minister had given an example of how the exemption process had “fallen apart” by noting that there was a situation where someone had arrived in the territory in June and had already acquired an exemption, the BVInews.com report stated.
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