As far as the Finance Minister’s role to facilitate the payments goes, he is not to blame because Cabinet has long approved the allocations.

However, the Premier has shied away from calling out the responsible party sitting on the officers’ pay.

“It pains my heart that they have not been paid as yet. And I will continue to apply pressure where pressure needs to be to make sure that they are paid,” the Premier stated.

“I wasn’t aware that they weren’t paid up till now. I know it came up about a month and a half ago and I made a push on it and I was told that they would be paid so its disappointing to hear that they’re not … This is a little long. This should have done been taken care of. There is no excuses for that,” he added.

The Joint Task Force was initially commissioned back in 2020 when COVID-19 hit the BVI.

Its role is to maintain the security and integrity of the territory’s borders. Up till recently, some 34 Customs and Immigration officers had joined the task force alongside members of the police force.

The task force has seen large success since its inception.