200 receive TRHA gratuity payments

AFTER announcing last month that all outstanding gratuity payments to workers in the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) will be paid by May 14, THA Secretary of Health, Wellness and Family Development Tracy Davidson-Celestine said on Monday that gratuity payments have begun.

Addressing a virtual media briefing, Davidson-Celestine said over 200 people have received payments so far.

“Gratuity payments have in fact started and the TRHA has indicated to me that over 200 persons, to date, have received payment.

“I must indicate that only those persons who have since been approved by the Board of Inland Revenue have since received payment of gratuity, to date,” she said.

Questioned about when the other workers would receive their payments, the secretary said, “We cannot pay until the time that we have received Board of Inland Revenue approval and so once that is had and we have the funding, we would pay the gratuities going forward. So, I cannot establish a timeline, but it has to do with the information coming back form the Board of Inland Revenue.”

During an April media briefing, the secretary said she was informed by the chair of the TRHA that there were 108 employees ready to be paid outstanding gratuities for the year 2017. That figure, she said, stands at $3.4 million.