Retirees owed milllions of dollars by the Government of the Virgin Islands over the course of decades today protested outside Government House on St. Croix, hoping to be heard and perhaps see the government listen and take action on their behalf. The money isn’t charity; the retirees earned it through years of hard work and they are simply asking that they be given what’s rightfully theirs. The Consortium captured some footage of the action.
In a release issued late Wednesday, Mr. Bryan said, “I assure you that while our priority is making sure the retirement system remains solvent and that we can continue paying the annuities to the almost 9,000 retirees currently collecting benefits, our administration has also made it a priority to address our legacy bills.
“I want retirees to know that I have not forgotten their service to our government and that I take seriously the commitments made to them. Stabilizing and restoring the trust of the people in their government is one of the priorities of my administration. That means paying taxpayers their income tax refunds, addressing the debt owed to WAPA, and it certainly means addressing the owed retroactive pay to our government retirees.”
Watch the video above.