Ameen fears job cuts at regional corporations due to funding

The UNC says it has received information that regional corporations have been instructed to cease hiring and could be forced to terminate employees. The reason? St Augustine MP Khadijah Ameen says allocations for wages and Cost of Living Allowances were insufficient in the 2024 Budget.

But she said UNC-controlled corporations would try to save workers’ jobs by diverting funds for various services – public health expenditure, scavenging, garbage collection – to pay workers.

At yesterday’s UNC media briefing held at the party’s headquarters at Mulchan Seuchan Road, Chaguanas, Ameen said regional corporations have a fixed number of permanent, casual and regular workers.

“So it’s very easy to determine the annual cost to pay wages and COLA. The allocation was far short of what would be needed in the Budget,” she claimed.

Ameen said the UNC had raised this issue in the Budget debate and the Local Government and Finance Ministers said there would be supplemented funds in the mid-year review.

“They did put in a little bit of money but not enough to cover workers’ salaries to year end – another clear indication of this Government’s disregard for the welfare of local government representatives and the employment of hundreds, perhaps thousands of corporation workers,” she added.

However, Ameen said when the Government fails to give the full allocation for wages and COLA to corporations, sacrifices will be made.

“Our regional corporations led by UNC mayors and chairman have been instructed to not fire any workers. The UNC will not put workers on the breadline, they’ll save jobs.

“To do that UNC led corporations have been embarking on a series of virement of funds- moving funds allocated for one thing to paying wages and COLA so workers won’t lose their jobs. Corporations have been forced to take monies away from maintaining cemeteries, from other contracted services which include scavenging and garbage collection at a time when the minister is calling for clean up while facing a dengue crisis,” she explained.

Ameen added, “There are a number of public health expenditures under contracted services that the corporation now is saying ‘we cannot do it because we have to put this money toward keeping our workers so they don’t lose their jobs’.”

She said the money that’s used to fix local roads and maintain state traces would also be put towards workers’ salaries.

“One regional corporation had to terminate all their security services at their market at a time when security is such a major issue throughout T&T. Recreation grounds and parks’ maintenance are also affected … then the Government will come and say if you pay property tax it won’t happen. This is blackmailing T&T into accepting property tax by underfunding corporations,” she claimed.

The MP made a plea.

“Government must immediately allocate the necessary funds to ensure this vital service of mosquito eradication is done effectively,” Amen said.

Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi didn’t answer Guardian Media’s query on corporations’ funding issue.

Ameen also demanded that the Government deal with the foreign exchange issue which she believes is leading to high food prices and food insecurity.

“Meanwhile the PNM puts on a million-dollar Agri-Expo pappyshow,” she said.

Ameen cited parents’ burden in deciding between the increasing cost of school supplies and basic necessities at a time when she claimed, there’s a high number of school dropouts. Ameen called for the Government to intervene with food subsidies and grants to address the underlying issues driving up such costs.

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