The Deputy Governor’s Office has stayed mum on claims that its recommendations were the trigger for House of Assembly members to secretly award themselves raises that approximately doubled their salaries from the start of last year.
After opposition members made the claim last week, Deputy Governor David Archer Jr.’s office declined to respond to it — citing confidentiality issues.
The DGO’s alleged role in the pay raises was described by Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn as he provided new details about a closed-door meeting held in December 2023.
Facing public backlash over the wage hikes, Mr. Walwyn told a press conference last Thursday that the DGO asked to meet with HOA members to discuss the case for increases.
“Concerns were raised as well about discussions as to how we survive on salaries that we make and suggesting that perhaps members may be engaging in things that are not kosher to supplement their salaries and so on,” Mr. Walwyn said.
Ultimately, he added, HOA members simply acted on the DGO’s advice.
“Long and short of it, the recommendation was made by the Deputy Governor’s Office for members to increase their salary — and also the level of increase that should be taken,” Mr. Walwyn said at the press conference, which also included his opposition colleagues Mitch Turnbull and Stacy Mather.
Auditor general
Mr. Walwyn also claimed that HOA members never intended to “hide” their pay increases from the public. But a report by Auditor General Sonia Webster told a different story, alleging that the raises were decided in an “informal” closed-door meeting and never officially announced to the public.
Big raises
Ms. Webster’s report, which was released last month, showed that individual members’ baseline salaries now range from $71,230 for backbenchers to $176,243 for the premier.
When their allowances are factored in, the boost has pushed all legislators’ total annual pay well into six figures, with the premier pulling in more than $250,000 in total, most other ministers earning about $200,000, and even the lowest-paid parliamentarians drawing some $134,000.
DGO stays quiet
The Beacon asked the DGO if it had indeed recommended that HOA members approximately double their salaries as Mr. Walwyn claimed, but the office refused to answer directly.
“The discussions you are referencing occurred during an informal meeting of the House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands,” the office told the Beacon. “The Office of the Deputy Governor is not at liberty to reveal the contents of this confidential meeting.”
The DGO then referred this newspaper to a report commissioned from consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers on HOA and civil service pay. However, despite lawmakers’ claims to the contrary, the PwC report made no clear recommendation on HOA members’ increases.
Instead, it recommended a range of options to consider — and HOA members awarded themselves the highest level while assigning civil servants a lower-level increase.
Neither lawmakers nor the DGO have responded to Beacon requests to explain how they interpreted the PWC report as advising that HOA members receive the highest increase in the recommended range.
Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley told the Beacon that he will address the opposition’s claims at his next press conference, which has not yet been scheduled.
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