In an invited comment Opposition Leader, Honorable Marlon Penn has denounced Government’s recent decision to lock out employed members of the expatriate community in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
His statement reads;
The decision to arbitrarily ban work permit holders and work permit exempt persons indefinitely seems like another knee jerk decision from this Administration, and speaks to the absence of a coherent plan to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. A responsible Government, a planned Government, a transparent Government, would assess how many work permit holders or exempt persons are currently outside the Territory, and their circumstances, and then make a policy decision.
This decision lacks clarity, and therefore, it creates an uneasiness and uncertainty for families and the business community concerning its labour force. A decision with such far reaching implications should never be a blanket decision; such a decision requires consultation and probably should allow for discretion on a case-by-case basis, and in conjunction with local businesses. For example:
- Did the Government consider that we have work permit holders and work exempt persons who are married to Virgin Islanders and are gainfully employed as the bread winners for their households who may have been shut out of the Territory? Because of this policy decision, they are unable to provide for their families or meet their financial obligations (loans, rent, food and statutory obligations) causing additional hardship on family units and the overall economy. These persons should be allowed to return, following clear re-entry protocols.
- Did the Government consider employees either work permit or work permit exempt holders for functioning industries like Construction and Financial Services? Shutting out key employees from the construction industry would have devastating consequences. Making critical labor unavailable in this industry, will create economic hardship for many companies and their limited employee base.
- For Financial Services, the impact is slightly different but has far reaching socioeconomic impact on the Virgin Islands. Several persons in the Financial Services Industry are high earners and instead of going through the hassle of re-entry, would just opt to not return to the Virgin Islands and work remotely. This would mean the loss of work permit fees, rent to landlords, and spending in the local economy (restaurants, bars, supermarkets and other local establishments), placing additional hardship on already struggling businesses. It could also mean a significant detraction from the strides we have made to have Financial Services companies and their personnel based in the BVI.
This decision has serious implications for all businesses in the territory, especially the small business sector. The fact is that a large percentage of our businesses depend on work permit holders to supply their labour needs. Businesses which have been shut down or struggling for the past 6 months need some certainty in the policy decisions being made, so that they could adequately plan how they would restart or maintain business operations. External Human Resources is a key component of many businesses and unfortunately, this level of uncertainty from our Government is going to force many of our businesses to close their doors permanently.
Our Government must communicate clearly with our business community and wider populace on the decisions they continue to make surrounding COVID-19. Decisions that seem to be being made in a vacuum without consultation have ripple effects on the economy and livelihood of our people. We cannot continue to be reactive every time someone is COVID-19 positive. Shutting down and constant redirection cannot be the solution. COVID-19 is not going away in a hurry, so we need a coherent and well articulated plan as to how we intend to co-exist with this virus and safely re-open our economy. We need this urgently, before we cause irreparable harm to our economy and our way of life.
We must protect our borders and we must protect our people and our health, but we must balance this against the needs of our families, businesses and our economy.