Kwesi: 1,575 persons hired in restored URP

Secretary of Infrastructure, Quarries and the Environment, Councillor Kwesi DesVignes on Thursday boasted of a restored Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) with 1,575 persons employed in full time and part time work.

At the plenary of the Tobago House of Assembly at the Chamber, Jerningham street, Scarborough, Des Vignes said, "it is with great success that the Division and the management of the URP has enjoyed restoring the programme to a place where it serves the purpose it was intended to accomplish.”

He did not say what purpose was to be accomplished.

He was responding to a question for oral answer from Minority Leader Watson Duke who asked the Secretary how many persons have been returned to the programme on full employment working two consecutive fortnights per month, and how many had been returned working one fortnight per month, following URP’s resumption on March 1.

In response Des Vignes said, “To date, 682 persons are engaged fulltime in the programme - in construction, revenue units and administrative units, while, 983 persons are employed on an alternating fortnightly basis.”

He said the verification process conducted for the programme has allowed the Division to quantify the skill sets and training needs of workers.

“The URP programme has utilised a deployment framework which sees three phases been implemented based on needs of demand for labour and availability of resources by private citizens to sustain a self-help project.

“With the ramping up of our agriculture and revenue generation efforts, a total of 201 individuals are to be reassigned to those areas in June and will be employed on a fulltime basis,” he said.