Contract workers to get gratuity owed

Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles has said all contract workers, across the various divisions, will be paid outstanding gratuity payments within this fiscal year.

He made the announcement on Wednesday during a news conference at the Mt Irvine Bay Resort, where assemblymen met in a day-long retreat to discuss Tobago's $2.283 billion allocation in the national budget.

"I need to emphasise that contract workers in this fiscal year will be paid outstanding gratuity payments. And therefore, our contract workers should be happy to hear that," he told reporters.

Charles could not give a specific time for the payments to be made, but said: "Clearly, the process would involve the auditing of those gratuities and they (workers) also have the responsibility of liaising with the inland revenue department. Once those things are clear and sufficiently audited, the payments will be made."

Charles said to the extent there are contract workers who have left the service and are owed gratuity, "Well, they would be accommodated as well."

He added: "I did indicate the process and I did indicate that once all of the preliminaries are done, then we shall pay."

Charles also announced the THA will provide for the salary increases, as announced in the budget, for URP and CEPEP workers, as well as those involved in the litter eradication programme.

"They will also benefit from the proposed 15 per cent increase."

At the news conference, Charles said the THA will continue with its development programme. He said the secretaries have been asked to identify what they would like to see happen going forward and their suggestions would be discussed with administrators and key personnel in all of the divisions at a follow-up retreat soon.

"We will fine-tune those projects that we will execute in 2020."

He added the projects that are currently on stream will be given priority.

"So the development projects you see across the island, we will continue to proceed with those."

Charles said his administration has done more with less over the years and will continue to operate in that manner.

"So we are confident that given the plan we have been executing over the past three years, that have brought us the level of successes we have seen and achieved, will work as we continue."

Charles said the THA also has a medium-term policy planning framework, 2019-2023, which was alluded to previously by Finance Secretary Joel Jack.

"That plan provides the context as well as the driver for our actions over the next three years."