“The Fish Stinks From The Head”
There is a saying that “the fish stinks from the head” and never was that more apparent than at the Senate hearing on the mold-infested St. Thomas IRB building last night.
After months of public discourse on this issue and apparently years of evidence collected by experts, there was finally an official forum for these obviously ill employees to make their case. They told stories of degenerating health, loss of pay, and the physical and emotional hardship of being forced to work in a toxic environment. At times it was difficult to listen to their heartbreaking testimony.
But perhaps the most horrifying moment in the long evening came from IRB Director Claudette Watson-Anderson, who took a moment from filing her nails to deny her responsibility for this situation by stating she wasn’t director when the problem started.
The fish stinks from the head.
There’s plenty of blame to throw around – the Government blames the landlord, the landlord blames the government, it goes on and on. Where was the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) when this issue came to light? Where was the Department of Labor when employees were denied leave and pay for their illnesses? What more could the unions, normally so aggressive, have done to force attention to this issue before it reached a crisis point?
The fact is this problem was documented and the information withheld from employees who were already seeking medical attention for a condition they could not diagnose. We will never know the true scope of the medical damage this situation has caused but someone must be called to account. There should be consequences for this level of moral negligence and criminal indifference.
But the most immediate need is to get those employees out of that building, now. Find the money and take action.
The price tag on the damage to these lives gets higher every day.
Kenrick,
The press secretary has yet to speak since Mafoliegate because he has yet to pry free his imbedded foot from his mouth.
Serious case of foot in the mouth disease.
the official investigation began yesterday…trust that statement
I see we have another Kenrick. Hail Up.
They are repeating this hearing now and I urge all to tune into the Legislature channel. If it could happen at IRB it could happen at any other office.
I have sat back for months and held my breath over the corruption and don’t care attitude of this Administration. DeWolfe accused the previous Administration of corruption but LAWD this is one Administration that stinks to high heaven.
Foncie, how did your meeting in St. Croix go? Wish you luck because you’re going to need it.
Ok, call me Kenrick J so we don’t ever confuse because I am not here to post in place of anyone but myself. I am looking forward to some fruitful discussions.
The IRB workers are on strike. At least the Daily News is smart enough to pay attention to this issue.
http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17638791
We must continue to lift up this agency in prayer. In fact, we must lift up the whole government in prayer. The Bible says, “When the righteous rules, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rules, the people mourn.” We must not give up. Our season of mourning will trun to joy.
I heard Senator Donastorg make a recommendation during the hearing; move the employees out to another location and do it now. They have been exposed for far to long. This appears to be a liability issue here guys. Like the Senator or not, I think he is right on this one. You currently have 7 to 9 employees sick, it would make perfect sense to get them all out asap. Lets see if the Governor was listening.
The IRB employees need to march on the Legislature and Government House. This has been going on for too long and needs to be rectified. Enough is Enough.
The IRB already made their case to the Legislature. The next step is to take the issue straight to Government House.
sad so sad my heart goes out to those employees,but we all know its politics …lolo willis had secure land from the hartman family to build a finacial center for irb ,omb,and finance but dejongh didn’t hire the man back. we need to stop it when somebody doing a good job we change them with the new administration ,but it’s not about the employees health it’s about R E N T plain and simple the landlord gets 500,000.00 a year and he is a major donner to dejongh camp so u see he couldn’t keep lolo he would have messed up the cash cow…oh the paperwork for the land is at p and p and by the way the hartman family was giving the government the land no charge,they just wanted thier mother’s name on the building.WOW . As for the new boss no words can explain her but what gose around comes around…
I’m asumming that ‘donner’ is ‘donor’ and ‘gose’ is goes.
thanks anonymous for having my back you know how it is as u get older the simple words are hard to remember…what about the comment…thanks again
If your talking about the history of incoming administrations changing agency heads for political purposes, you’ve got a point. Sometimes it works, but more often than not it doesn’t.
Case in point, the deJongh Administration.
true…they r the best example but i know for a fact that the employees of irb were better off under the leadership of lolo willis i like that he praised his employees everytime he was in front of the senate or any public event
#13 I wonder if the family members of this disabled population is concern for the conditions they are enduring? And is this the Dept. of Inhumane Services? I am so angry to know this is going on and DHS Commissioner sees fit to give his executive staff $10,000.00 raises and this is going on under their noses. What is Michal Rhymer-Charles who’s always on the radio running her mouth doing about this situation. “SAD”
I am glad someone seems to care to respond to this situation. It’s not about embezzlement, but I think it’s much more important. We see who this administration cares for the most.