Rudy: Floodgates will open in 2018

An Opposition MP is predicting that the retrenchment floodgates will be opened after the moratorium on retrenchment reached in the public sector ends on December 31.

Member of Parliament for Couva South Rudy Indarsingh yesterday accused Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley of speaking with a ‘forked tongue’ when he met with the Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) for several hours at his St Clair office in Port -of- Spain on Wednesday.

The announcement was made by JTUM’s president Ancel Roget and comes weeks before government announces its third budget for fiscal 2017/2018.

Yesterday, Indarsingh - a former trade union leader and government minister - questioned what would happen to workers in the new year.

“What would happen after January 1, 2018?” Indarsingh questioned.

“You tell the labour movement there will be no retrenchment for the public service workers for the rest of the year, but the big question is will the floodgates be reopened after the first.”

He surmised that if the economy does not grow, how then could the numbers be sustained.

“If the economy does not grow, and based on the Government’s performance after two budget presentations, two mid-term reviews, draw down from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund and so on, I don’t foresee any growth and job creation,” Indarsingh said. “If they cannot raise revenue to fund whatever budget they have to bring, then there will be overall cuts across the board in all of the ministries. And that could only signal further job losses.”