Today August, 25th 2020, staff of the BVI National Parks Trust received notice that they will not be paid during the recently announced curfew/silent lock down. The correspondence stated:
“I am writing to you regarding the curfew/silent lock down that has been imposed by the Government last night. As NPT is not on the approved list, I regret to inform you that for any lock downs for the remainder of 2020, employees will NOT be paid. Based on the grave financial position of the Trust at this time, the Trust cannot pay people to stay home, while they continue to accumulate days and still have to pay for those as well.
I have spoken to our Minister, Permanent Secretary and Chairman regarding the grave financial situation and the implications for the overall operations of the Trust.
Currently they are working on having NPT added to the list of approved workers, which means you WILL be required to report to work. Alternatively, you can take vacation. The choice is yours.
On another but related note, for those of you that have vacation, you are advised to take your days or lose them as the circumstances of any lock down is NOT an excuse for not taking them. If you don’t use them, you will lose them.”
Our newsroom reached out to the Director of the National Parks trust who declined to comment on the matter.
The NPT is the second statuary body of the Government of the Virgin Islands known to take measures of salary reductions. The BVI Airports authority also implemented similar measures.
The National Parks Trust of The Virgin Islands (NPT) was established under the National Parks Ordinance of 1961 as a statutory body, responsible for parks and protected areas. It is overseen by a Board of Directors appointed by the Government of the British Virgin Islands, and collaborates closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour and government departments such as Conservation and Fisheries and Town and Country Planning.