Secretary: Productive THA workforce needed, under-funding not helping

Productivity and accountability among employees in the THA need to improve.

THA Assistant Secretary in the Division of Community Development, Youth Development and Sport Wane "Wasp" Clarke made the statement as he moved a motion on February 27 at the 38th sitting of the Assembly at the Assembly Legislature, Scarborough.

Clarke urged workers to raise their standards as he noted that many of them are demotivated owing to the central government's failure to increase salaries.

Poor working habits, he said, have become the norm.

"Tobago was not always like this," Clarke said.

"After 20 years of shortcuts, our support for the drivers needs retooling, and in this debate I move that our mission to build productivity will drive our efficient, effective and accountable public service, therefore contributing to making Tobago the greatest little island on the planet."

He said the workers must improve their attitudes towards their jobs by adopting better practices.

"They cannot allow the situation to get to them."

The motion, he said, is a clarion call to all people in the engine rooms of the island to “fire up their engines, rev their engines and mash the gas.”

He compared the THA to a racing car, to drive home his point.

“The vehicle is the Tobago House of Assembly with all its dormant horsepower, and the driver is not just the person in the hot seat – that is the public officer, but there are pit crew, navigators, control room monitoring remotely the performance and specifications of the car and advising how fast to go, when the tyres much change, when the fuel needs topping up and so on.

"That is who we are as assemblymen and secretaries monitoring the performance of the THA and making decisions with the driver on the handling and management of the vehicle.”

He said there are also spectators in the velodrome watching from afar. Some spectators, he said, are rooting for the THA vehicle to succeed while some are invested in a flat tyre or it running off course.

“The THA vehicle is the biggest vehicle in the race to providing goods and services to the people of Tobago. Although this vehicle has a horsepower rating of 6.9 per cent of the national budget, the race organisers out of Port of Spain under-loading the engine to 4.3 per cent, therefore affecting the power of the vehicle.”

He said when the issue of productivity is addressed, even though the race is already sabotaged by the underfunding of Tobago, one cannot just sit idly back.

“When we see the green flag, we must mash the gas like we foot want to burst the flooring.

"Why? Because, for one, the rules are not fair so when you get that little clearance you must go through. This motion is our pit stop. The motion seeks to acknowledge the critical role the THA employees have in fostering Tobago’s progress and commits to further investing in policies and initiatives that supports productivity and accountability.”

He added: “We must invest in the drivers, but also, we must give the drivers the best and expect the best in return. While we are calling on the central government to stop sabotaging our drivers, we are also calling on all the drivers to put their skills together to beat a crooked system.”

However, in an immediate response, Minority Leader Kelvon Morris criticised Clarke.

“It is best when he speaks the truth, regardless of whom the truth might offend. It appears that my colleague was thrown under the bus by some that perhaps wish not to put their face to this motion. This motion is really criticising (the workforce). They have chosen, after failing the people of Tobago for the last three years, to come and now blame the workers. My poor colleague is the one that they would have thrown to the wolves.”

He dismissed the claim that unsatisfactory wage negotiations with central government is contributing to low productivity. The current administration, he said, is mistreating the workers, which he said is the cause of the low productivity.

"It is because the driver is reckless, incompetent, inexperienced and completely lost. Perhaps, the navigation system has malfunctioned."