Nevis Premier Takes 100% Salary Cut; Cabinet Ministers Give up 10% Of Salaries

Nevis Premier, Mark Brantley, in an unprecedented show of solidarity with the people of Nevis impacted by loss of income due to the economic fallout from the Covid-19 global pandemic, has announced that he will forego his entire monthly salary for the foreseeable future.

On April 22, the Premier informed the public, and wider federation, that “I have since last month foregone my salary and benefits in full and shall continue to do so until we are past this crisis.” Across the region and in the international arena, many leaders have recently taken 30 to 75% salary cuts as government revenues dwindle.

As leader of the Nevis Island Administration, Premier Brantley informed that Cabinet Ministers would also make a financial sacrifice to the benefit of the people.

‘”We recognize the pain that this crisis has caused our people. We recognize that many have lost their jobs and that the loss of income has made it difficult for some of us even to ensure that we have food to eat.

“In a show of solidarity therefore with our people, the Ministers of the Nevis Island Administration have all agreed to a pay cut of 10% for the next 3 months starting in May, 2020. Given the demands on them to sustain their own families and still assist constituents, I believe that this gesture demonstrates in a tangible way that we are indeed in this together.”

Premier Brantley and his colleague Ministers will provide additional assistance to affected persons on Nevis by deploying personal resources to provide $13,500 worth of groceries each month for the next 3 months to the most vulnerable across the island to ensure that no family in Nevis goes hungry in these difficult times.

He said details of how persons can apply for this assistance would soon be provided.

Lamenting the great suffering the coronavirus crisis has brought to Nevisians, Premier Brantley says he shares the pain and anguish of his people and understands that there is a shared responsibility to respond.

“Brothers and sisters, we are in this together and working together I know we shall overcome. This Corona crisis has tested us as Nevisians in a way that we have not seen in decades past. Nevis in this fight against the deadly Corona virus. It is a fight for our very survival as a people. It is a fight that we must win. It is a fight that we shall win.

“We have made some gains to be sure but we must avoid the mistakes made elsewhere and continue relentlessly to wage war on this disease until in God’s good time we can truly declare victory.”