Locals being sidelined for jobs at RDA – Skelton-Cline
However, in that same interview, Mr Bayly also spoke about an apparent ‘40% RDA principle’, this according to the CEO means that 40% of the persons hired by the RDA is and will continue to be non-locals from international markets.
“That means if the RDA were to hire 100 persons, 40 of those persons will be from outside the BVI,” Mr Skelton-Cline said in a release on December 19, 2018. In essence, locals are being sidelined for jobs at a local agency responsible for their own development.
40 Percent
In his commentary, Mr Skelton-Cline in querying the percentage, raised a number of questions, “Do we lack the skill set? Are we incapable of executing administrative work? Are we deficient in communication and writing skills? Do we lack the analytical depth to access proposals and reports both financial and otherwise?”
Mr Bayly, as part of his defence said one of the reasons for recruitment of skills internationally, includes a policy where for every international person, the RDA must have one local staff.
“We have a number of international staff on the staff of the BVI, in fact, about 40% of the staff at the RDA is international. But we have a policy and a programme that every international person would have at least one… local people working alongside them,” he said.
The CEO also revealed that due to the unprecedented situation of large-scale devastation, the agency wanted to get the “best value we can for the money” in relation to the skills they recruit.
However, Mr Skelton-Cline is continuing the raise questions about this 40% figure, “Are we not intellectually agile enough to navigate and negotiate financing and grants in the marketplace?, Where did that number come from? Who made it up? Is it deliberate or arbitrary?” he asked.
Import of Skills
“You mean to tell me, in the recovery and development of our own territory we are being relegated to a sixty percentile participation? In any educational grading system that worth its salt, that’s considered a ‘D’. We are better than this and should demand more,” the radio host and man of the cloth urged.
According to Mr Skelton Cline, “Since hurricanes Irma and Maria, a majority of our people particularly from the tourism sector have been out of gainful employment. We have already allowed into the Territory over two thousand workers supposedly in the construction field,” he said.
“Now here we are again with another entity namely the RDA operating in a silo where the CEO can just casually say, 40% of the persons being employed will be non-locals. How is this possible you ask?,” he questioned rhetorically.
Silent Elite
“It is possible when elected officials in leadership are so compromised they can’t look out for the best interest of the people who elected them… It is possible when the so-called elite of the Territory remain silent in their pseudo haven, so as not to upset their apple cart of comfort and convenience,” Mr Skelton-Cline lashed out.
The outspoken commentator and former Managing Director of the BVI Ports Authority who is also a Pastor, even blamed Church Officials, “It is possible when Church Officials have preached themselves into a place of irrelevance until speaking truth to power never flies across their mental sky.”
Mr Skelton-Cline continued, “It is possible when certain individuals from a false class system are selected for the purpose of collusion to disenfranchise a people their basic rights, in the land of their birth.”
This he says, is a ‘big deal’ since those in power are allowing the developed world to move into the territory in the name of aid/help, grant financing and ultimately saddle the VI with debt in a bid to erode the economy.
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19 Responses to “Locals being sidelined for jobs at RDA – Skelton-Cline ”
Sorry sir. The answer is “Yes”
We do not have scores if highly qualified people on island. We do have a population who can learn from the incoming professionals and who will get a lot of the rebuild work and the opportunities that stem from having a newly built island. Instead of sniping and lying like a bald Trump, how about you encourage our youth to go out and get the training, turn up for the jobs, start new companies of their own? Many after Irma in Cayman started a number of businesses that simply did not exist beforehand. That is because they took a better view of taking opportunities, looking after long term expiration residents so they stayed and invested and grew the economy. Now they have many locals with all sorts of businesses to service that demand that was not there before (tech businesses, restaurants, solar and wind power systems...) and modern, safer and more self-sufficient homes and buildings. If some of the people with a platform in our country had the country and our youth at heart we would not hear all this jealousy and greed and negative talk about a system designed to put us back on own two feet. Will government start to accept the deals on power and on a range of fronts that will make us better off?
But if one is to be skeptic about one branch then one has to weigh the next branch with the same pendulum of skepticism; has the homework been done on the new and next of hires; and don’t the BVI have qualified trustworthy and capable Candidates who could have risen to this mantle? Or did someone call Wolf?
But I am inclined, in all fairness, I believe inclusion could mimic or mirror intrusion; yet be mindful, neither forsaking “all or nothing” approach nor “going after the shadow and losing the bone”; but a step forward may perhaps be considered would be a modified yet codified-hiring process with transparency that meets the goals and the outcomes that serves local interests with dual efforts of accountability and credibility which ought to be for the people by the people with the people who must also be “open” to the results and findings or recommendations; and interestingly...
NB: Once you let others in your home you open the door to them not leaving; like fish after three days company “stinks”.
BVI everything happens for a reason so Stay Woke - Work this matter out, if you need to get the job done then get it done and get them to “blank” out before they “overstate” and the promise to deliver becomes “overstaying” and wearing out their welcome!
Brain UP and let’s Get involve Now not Later - let’s like an oversight committee to police the department!