In March, Premier Fahie had said since taking office his research had showed that public officers were owed about three years of increments. The Virgin Islands Party (VIP administration then vowed to pay two years of outstanding increments in 2019.

“They already worked for it but it’s just that they haven’t received it because the funding wasn’t there and the will to do it also wasn’t there,” Premier Fahie had said on the radio programme, Honestly Speaking with Claude O. Skelton-Cline, on March 19, 2019.

Approx 67% of public officers received 2016 increments

In a statement during the Seventh Sitting of the First Session of the Fourth House of Assembly (HoA) on October 17, 2019, Hon Fahie said he was advised there were 2,163 public officers eligible to receive the 2016 increment on 1st July 2019 and as of September 30, 2019, an estimated 67 percent of eligible officers had received the 2016 increment.

“The Department of Human Resources has provided monthly updates on the progress of increment payments and has reported they continue to work towards completion by the end November 2019.”

Premier Fahie added that government has been diligently monitoring the revenues and with conditions permitting, may be in the position to pay the 2017 increments as early as the middle of December 2019.

“…and that is with the conditions permitted if the conditions remain the same of how they are, Mr Speaker, with us taking a very heavy hand on trying to control expenditure, given the challenges, Mr Speaker, with the incorporation of companies in financial services that was known from years before.”

The Premier and Minister of Finance said it was important to speak on the payment of increments for Public Officers because a number of officers are meeting him, asking about their increments, “and I am steadily directing them to the Deputy Governor and Director of Human Resources who I have charged with ensuring that Public Officers who qualify receive their increments. I commend them for their efforts.”