After receiving "numerous complaints" about the lack of payments from Workers’ Compensation, Sen. Gregory A. Bennerson issued a release saying it is "inexcusable that the Department of Finance and the Department of Labor fail to communicate with each" on the matter.
"The private sector pays into the fund" for those employees who are injured on the job, he said, and "there is no reason" for those departments "to hold the recipients hostage for what is legally theirs."
Bennerson added, "Again the private sector is left holding the short end of the stick. How can the private sector continue to pay into this fund, knowing that the government is not upholding its end of the obligation?" It is such situations, he said, "that have the Virgin Islands in the current mess we are in."
He said those unable to collect compensation due them are "suffering financial hardships and emotional distress due to neglect by the departments. . . There are people who are dependent on this compensation" who are "agonizing over mortgage payments, rent, electrical and water bills and the like."
Bennerson said he has been assured by Government House that the matter has been give priority, and that he will follow up on its action in response.
