Secretaries Answers to Questions
FULL VIDEO
URP/CEPEP DAILY RATED WORKERS-DELAYED SALARY PAYMENT
5. The Minority Councillor asked the Chief Secretary:
“There have been several reports of delayed salary payments to URP, CEPEP and daily rated workers. Given that these categories represent the lowest income earners of the Tobago House of Assembly and considering that many of these workers are owed outstanding salaries exceeding one fortnight, would the Chief Secretary admit that his is unacceptable, insensitive and callous?”
Madam Presiding Officer, I am on public record as saying that it is unacceptable, it is insensitive, it is callous and beyond that, I have spoken to how vexing it is when workers are not remunerated on time. So yes, I will say it again.It is unacceptable, it is insensitive, and it is callous. Allow me, Madam Presiding Officer, to go further and to point out that one of the reasons why this Administration is pushing so hard at digitization and that we have asked all Administrators to revisit the ETA (the Electronic Transmission Act 2012 that speaks to digitization), is so that we could prevent and stop once and for all, a long standing pattern of employees being paid late.
Allow me in my response to provide a recent example, as recent as this week, Madam Presiding Officer. With the temporary employees, everything was put in place for them to be paid. Monies were released to the Division on time, scheduled for payment. Yesterday, while payments were going according to schedule, we were informed (the Executive, that is) that a salary clerk had on her desk, sheets that did not make their way through to ‘Zalamazoo’. They were just on her desk and of course, those who were on those sheets, almost a hundred of them - no cheques were prepared for them. Why? According to the salary clerk, it was an error. The time sheets were just on her desk sitting there taking a break, perhaps taking an early Christmas. So, we had to work with Accounts to work overtime to be able to process the salaries for these Employees and this is not a one-off occurrence, unfortunately, Madam Presiding Officer. It is one of the reasons why digitization has to be used as a response to the inefficiencies in the public system.
Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer - a follow-up question.
The Chief Secretary would have outlined an issue that occurred this week, and I think even previously, the Chief Secretary would have indicated that public servants seem to be the issue in relation to the late payment of the Unemployed Relief Programme (URP), the Community-Based Environmental and Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) and other daily related workers.
However, Madam Presiding Officer, in a previous incarnation, the Chief Secretary made it clear, that when issues like these occur, we are not to blame the public servant. He used some adjectives to describe the politicians, and he quoted section 37(1) of the THA Act, which relates to Secretaries having general direction and control for the Divisions.
In a situation like this, Madam Presiding Officer, how is it that the Chief Secretary is not now accepting responsibilities for this issue, but rather throwing public servants under the bus?
How is it then, that the Chief Secretary knew that section 37(1) was pertinent to the issues faced by the past Administration. However, now under this Administration, all the issues seem to surround the work of the public servants, and no responsibility seem to be accepted under section 37(1) in this new incarnation for all these issues, particularly in relation to the late payment?