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by pltm
(PLTM) - The Labour Department has been short-staffed for several months and the Government is aware of it, according to new information.
The Government has been facing mounting criticisms from the business community about the lengthy-time the work permit process is taking.
Last week on Virgin Islands Party (VIP) radio, the Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, Hon. Vincent Wheatley explained that the delays were linked to the Labour Department undertaking due diligence to make sure that they are not giving away jobs that locals can do.
He further pointed out that it is always important for Labour to seek out the locals who may be able to fill the positions before they send them to the outside; hence, sometimes are delays in processing work permits.
“We must give our people a fighting chance in their own country and I make no apology absolutely for saying that. I always say that we must stand by our people to make sure that they get every advantage to make a living in their own country,” Hon. Wheatley stated.
In Crisis
However, during the House of Assembly’s Standing Finance Committee (SFC) meeting last month, Minister Wheatley himself alluded to the staff shortage when the Human Resource Department appeared before legislators.
According to a report from the SFC meeting, the Minister highlighted that in the age of COVID the ways of doing business will have to change as there should be a little more flexibility within the Public Service.
He shared that currently, there is an issue in Labor Department, as there is a large number of Work Permits to be processed, that no one expected and the department is severely short-staffed.
Minister Wheatley stated that they have been requesting extra staff, even if on rotation for at least two weeks and it has been months now and not even one officer can be assigned.
He questioned how can a system be so rigid and we cannot address a problem like that.
The Minister further stated that he receives calls from persons who say that if they don’t get people to work they will have to close their business. He gets those type of calls on a daily basis because the department cannot process the number of permits with the current staff.
“Labor Department is in a crisis right now because they cannot get persons to work; this can be found across the entire service where departments are short-staffed,” the report stated of Hon. Wheatley.
The Minister stated that maybe they are applying old methods to new era and referred to the transformation of the Public Service but he is unsure what we are transforming from or to because things seem to be getting worse.
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