Whistle blowing policy coming to MTS

A formal whistle-blower policy will be put into effect at the National Maintenance, Training and Security Company Ltd (MTS) within the the next six months.

This was disclosed yesterday by MTS chairman Jacqueline Lazarus when she and other company officials appeared before the Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC) at Tower D of the Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre.

Responding to a question from Labour Minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, Lazarus said MTS has an unwritten policy on whistleblowers. Since she assumed office, she said, employees have told her about certain incidents taking place at the company. Lazarus said those incidents were investigated and found to be petty. She said none of the individuals who drew attention to these matters lost their jobs.

However, Lazarus acknowledged the need for a written policy on whistle-blowing. MTS CEO Lennox Rattansingh confirmed a draft whistleblowing policy has been prepared and should be approved by MTS’ board at its next meeting.

Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General Fitzgerald Hinds observed MTS was almost operating to keep its workforce in place. Hinds asked Lazarus what was being done to address any backpay issues at MTS.

Lazarus said MTS was asking the Finance Ministry, through the Public Utilities Ministry, “to pay some of our bills.

“We believe we are currently in a position to start paying the current increase,” she said. However, she noted because of the country’s challenging economic circumstances, MTS is asking the Finance Ministry to defer the backpay, “once we start rolling out the current interest.”

Lazarus said MTS would not be ahead of the game “until we get a large percentage of our bills paid,” and sometimes it was simply “prayers” that allowed MTS to meet its obligations. “We get through, on a month-to-month basis, sometimes just praying that a cheque comes through just in time.”

Rattansingh said while MTS is owed approximately $320 million, the company has paid approximately $210 million in backpay over the last eight years. He said the 5,600 MTS workers are very loyal people and understand the current economic scenario.