Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Retired civil servants enlisted to assist with work permit backlog

Retired civil servants enlisted to assist with work permit backlog

Retired civil servants reportedly make up the bulk of a task force established to reduce the months-long work permit backlog at the Labour Department.

Speaking at a press conference recently, Labour Minister Vincent Wheatley stated that their expertise and experience means that they can step in and provide ‘immediate and direct support’ to the department.

According to Minister Wheatley, the task force is comprised of Janice Rymer (a former Labour Commissioner), Dawn O’Neal George, Marieta Headley, Myrna Samuels, Reginald Hodge, Ernest Potter, Devon Penn and Keida Williams.

“It is envisioned that with the hiring of these additional persons for a one-month period, not only will it help to clear the work permit applications from the system, but it will also bring work permit processing times back in line with the department’s service standards by the week of April 18,” Minister Wheatley said.

He added that the government is very focused on ensuring that individuals do not lose their ability to work because of the lack of work permits. The minister further said the government is working diligently to rectify the problems in a short time span.

Be receptive to their calls


He also said that, at times, members of the task force may have to call employers or employees for them to furnish missing information or documents that should have already been uploaded into the system.

“We are asking you to be receptive to their calls and provide the relevant information expeditiously and in the format that they may prescribe as this will allow for the processing of your long-awaited application to be finalised,” he explained.

Wheatly advised that in order to ensure that no application is overlooked in the system, officials are also requesting that employers submit a list with the names of all their outstanding work permit applicants if they have not heard from any of the processing officers at the department or any member of the Online Work Permit Processing Taskforce regarding their uploaded applications.

He said this submission should be made along with the assigned application ID numbers. The email address to which these submissions are to be made is wpportalhelp@gov.vg

“Please utilise the name of the business/employer as the subject, for example, ‘Outstanding Work Permit Application(s) – White Sandy Villas’, when submitting your emails,” Wheatley explained.

Once a work permit renewal has been approved, the minister said, an appointment to collect will be set and an email or text message will be generated informing the applicant or employer of their scheduled time and date to collect the work permit.

He noted that employers or employees will also be informed via email or a telephone call once a new permit or new change of employer application has been approved or denied.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×