Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Jul 23, 2025

Premier & Labour Minister Want Names Of Callous Employers

Premier & Labour Minister Want Names Of Callous Employers

Employers who forced their employees to work as hurricane Dorian was approaching, even after the NEOC urged for everyone to be indoors, were described by Premier Hon. Andrew Fahie as callous. In fact, the BVI Leader stated that both himself and the Minister for Labour, Hon. Vincent Wheatley, will be inquiring to find out who these employers are.

The report about the behavior of these unknown employers was made in the House of Assembly on September 2 by Third District Representative and Opposition Member, Hon. Julian Fraser.

In bringing the matter to the House, Hon. Fraser said that some employers showed little regard for their employee's safety and for the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) during the preparation for hurricanes Dorian, as they insisted that their staff stay and work.

Hon. Fraser said, “Long after the Government had announced that the Civil Servants were not to report to work, except for essential workers, and even after there was the talk of a curfew to be issued, in the private sector, employees were being asked to come to work and threatened.”

According to the Third District Representative, the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) was informed about the situation and even attempts by NEOC officials to have the employers see reason failed. Hon. Fraser said that the employers responded unfavorably to the NEOC’s intervention into the matter.

As he called on legislators to take action on the matter Hon. Fraser said, “Mr. Speaker I think it’s incumbent on us as legislators to ensure, even before we saw what took place with hurricane Irma, to ensure that we don’t put our citizens at risk. If we knew long in advance that hurricane Dorian was going to pass over the BVI, we knew not what the consequences were going to be. To risk the lives of citizens out there in the morning...You can go to work yes, because it looks ok to go to work, but you don’t know about getting back home. It could be a lamppost, it could be a tree…”

Hon. Fraser added, “Mr. Speaker our legislation on curfew, our legislation on impending disasters has to be clear and concise. I think in my mind, as a former Minister of Labour that was a point at which the Minister of Labour could have intervened or should have intervened and I don’t know, but I am not taking this lightly and I don’t expect any of the 13 of us to do that either, to take it lightly.

In stating that action would be taken, Premier Fahie explained that he did not know about the situation.

“It's people’s lives; you can’t replace a life. When the Territory, the state announce that everyone is to be off the road, everyone is to be off the road, whether it is public, or it is private. It shiver me when I heard you say it, because it’s the first I have heard it. To know that there would be employers who would be so not only callous, but so distasteful…to have their employees out even although the Territory has announced a curfew that everyone should be home.”

As he announced that both himself and the Minister for Labour would be looking into the issue, the Premier said, “I could assure the members of this House that we would look into it. The Minister of Labour has heard you, so he would also work with us so that we could find out who these companies are and not only the companies, but to make sure that we make a statement that is clear. You would think that it would be clear that the state made a declaration that there is a curfew that the curfew covers everybody. I don’t think it should have need us to say public officers and private. It covered everyone so they should have been off the road not some businesses demanding that others be there. Even before the curfew given the conditions people should be more caring for their employees.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×