ROADTOWN Tortola, BVI July 2nd, 2013 -- Our economy is in free fall and has been so for a while, and is now depreciating at so alarming a rate, that it is unsettling. This is an undeniable truth that cannot be hidden by silence. Yet, the Premier is silent.
Since the general elections of November 2011 I have been observing a frightening trend of company closures, company downsizing, job redundancies, employee layoffs, and bank foreclosures, which are unprecedented.
It all started when this Administration decided to take back half of its Civil Servants increments which were already earned for the year 2011. Then came the closure of Columbian Emeralds, and Little Switzerland; two major multinational jewelers no tourism destination like ours could ill-afford to lose.
It would also seem that the acquisition of Commonwealth and Equity Trusts by TMF would be ultimately be blamed for the layoff of 15 employees between July and November 2012; an occurrence, which has touched the financial services, in ways unheard of, in the past.
Just recently another spate of layoffs has hit the telecomm sector, with CCT discharging of 16 Employees, some of whom had been with the company for 20 years. Then LIME lay off another 2, one of whom was a longtime senior executive.
Our tourism industry was to take yet another hit. Last week the Moorings lay off 16 employees, which included 5 upper managers, with speculation of an even larger number to follow. This all happened on the heels of an already harrowing assault on tourism when American Eagle decided to discontinue serving the territory on April 1st of this year.
To put things in perspective, American Eagle on its best days flew upwards of 12 flights a day with up to 64 seats, a potential 768 passengers a day. American Eagle had what could not be replicated, in its partnership with American Airlines, giving direct connection to the US market, and by extension the rest of the world through its One World Alliance brand.
In spite of the presence of a huge majority expatriate workforce, it is understood that an overwhelming majority of persons affected by lay-offs are Belongers. But, either way, the news for Virgin Islanders is equally bad. Loss of expatriates means loss of rent, vacant apartments and eventual foreclosures by banks. This is a sad reality of the industry many locals have built their lives around.
In the midst of all this misery, despite his silence, the Premier has been able to afflict some pain of his own on those already suffering by doubling the fees on most essential government services such as Entry Visas, Visa Waivers, Belonger's Card, Passports, Work Permits, Police Records, and more; together with the imposition of a 200% increase on passenger tax for people going to St. Thomas, seemingly intended to discourage residents from going to St. Thomas to shop.
Anyone who is watching, will tell you that this is a strategic mistake because what will happen is that fewer people will go to St. Thomas, but the same amount of goods will return, since people have been known to network in the past. Consequently, the biggest losers in all this will appear to be the ferry operators, unless of course they end up raising the fares.
Further, in recent years, commerce between the USVI and BVI have begun to flow in both directions, since cruise passengers to the USVI are now coming to the BVI to patronize our Swim with the Dolphin Programme, among others, so an increase in passenger tax will have repercussions to this valued relationship.
In what I will consider either incompetence or a deliberate and willful decision to keep the truth hidden, the Premier cannot present the people of the Virgin Islands a true and accurate picture of the territory's unemployment, nor can he provide us with the economy's rate of growth or contraction. And while a reason stated for this is the absence of statistics to produce this data, this situation is ironic.
Here we are but a tiny economy of less than $1 billion, unable to provide statistics, while the United States, the world's greatest economy of over $16 trillion can produce on a monthly basis with consistency the number of jobs created, together with its rate of unemployment. Shamefully our Premier can't.
This economic downturn has created a culture of the unemployed, and the underemployed: people who are working reduced hours that are less than adequate to support their families; or work for months without pay. Regrettably it doesn't end there, for we have seen where people have left the territory for their homeland after being released from their jobs.
My concern and position on the matter of the economy are not new. They were first reported in the House of Assembly last October when I called upon the Premier to inject money into the economy, and abandon the British model of austerity which he has adapted, and I don't support.
Then again at the April 8th 2013 Sitting of the House of Assembly I told the Premier, "A miracle is not going to come. I am not talking because I am the member for the Third District or Opposition Member… Out there it isn't pretty. Contractors are out of work, those working are not sure they are going to be paid. We need to or can do a better job to take care of our people".
Then again at the Ninth Sitting of the Second Session of the Second House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands on May 14, 2013 I sought an explanation on the correlation or coincidence between the Premier's decision not to fund the Development Fund and what I characterized as "the failing economy of the Territory" given that the money from the Fund is what is used to finance capital projects, which create jobs.
To which the Premier in his wisdom retorted, contrary to my suggestion,” the revenues to central government from financial service to date remains robust and tourism figures continue to rise ever since his government took office." He also noted that the decision not to fund the Development Fund to the level done for the same period in 2012 was a matter of cash management, "and nothing more”. His words!
The Premier also vigorously refuted assertions that the economy of the Virgin Island is failing, since according to him, there is no economic data to support such a claim.
This difference of opinion between the Premier and Myself on the state of the territory's economy is one worth being put before the court of public opinion, for it is obvious that both of us feel strong about our views.
*************************
DISCLAIMER
This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKNVibes.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of SKNVibes.com, its sponsors or advertisers
British Virgin Islands News