3 weeks ago
4
Senior Reporter
Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath is denying claims that he has instructed the Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme’s (CEPEP) new board to shut down its operations. However, he could not provide a timeline for when the company will rehire workers, noting CEPEP remains under review.
In fact, Padarath yesterday revealed that the board has requested six months to complete financial audits covering the past seven years.
“It’ s seven years of audit they had to do. They have not had audited financial statements for seven years. There are two types of audits. There are the physical assets of the company, and then there are the financial audits. Both are still ongoing,” Padarath told Guardian Media.
He added that the six-month time period requested by the Dain Maharaj led board may be a tall order.
“I think it’s an ambitious timeframe but we are hoping within the next six months to have the seven years completed, but it will be a stretch,” he said.
Asked about the estimated 10,000 workers on the breradline following Government’s termination of more than 360 contractors, Padarath said, “Well, that will have to be a Government policy. I know that there is a discussion that we are having right now in terms of where do we go with respect to the administration of the company, hirings, et cetera. So, those things are a bit off in terms of the immediate future CEPEP. Those things are still in discussions with the Cabinet.”
He added, “I would say hopefully that in the near future, we’ll be able to articulate what is the way forward for the programme in particular.”
He acknowledged that Government’s preparation for its first full budget presentation will also play a role in the process.
“That is why it’s taking a little bit longer, because of the budgeting process and so on.”
Asked what message he has for the former CEPEP workers who were looking forward to being reabsorbed by the company, Padarath said, “The Government is looking holistically in terms of how we can create more sustainable jobs. So, as I had mentioned before, it is not just simply about creating another layer of grass cutters. It is how do you get these people engaged in more sustainable jobs? And that is what we are looking at holistically, so that they have a better quality of life, they have another opportunity for themselves,” he said.
“Social support and other support will be there to pick up those who need it. We are looking at more of a long-term solution to the issue of employment in Trinidad and Tobago.”
He said in the interim, local government bodies will continue to fulfil CEPEP’s role, which he added is nothing new as it pertains to United National Congress-held regional corporations.
Economist, NGO concerned
Economist Professor Patrick Watson believes some short-term relief may be necessary for the affected former CEPEP workers, given the potential knock-on effects on the wider economy. However, he said programmes like CEPEP are long overdue for a comprehensive overhaul.
“Remember when these programs came into being, they had very definite objectives. In the case of CEPEP, it was to train people for a little while and then put them back out into the world. But now, this has become a thing which you pass on to your children and your grandchildren. And there are people, criminal elements as well, who are benefiting from this thing. So, they have to deal with this thing,” Watson said yesterday.
However, Watson said he would prefer if the review is done as quickly as possible so those who are “worthy of being rehired will be rehired.”
Watson also said there needs to be some sort of cushion for the former workers.
“Anytime you withdraw people’s income, the basic economics tells you that that is going to have an effect on the people in particular. Remember, you’re talking about people who have come to rely on this. It’s not their fault that they are relying on it. So, what I would suggest as an alternative is a programme that should be set up to bail out people who are in dire need,” Watson suggested.
He added, “What we’re going to have to do is find a way to bail out those who are not necessarily under the CEPEP heading, maybe under some other form of social programme, Ministry of Social Development or something like that, to make people not become destitute as a consequence of the withdrawal of income. Because that is what is going to happen. And you don’t want a breeding ground for young criminals in that way.”
Watson said he is very much concerned about the effects on families and the impact on criminal activity this will have. He said there is a need for programmes like CEPEP and the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) but they must function in a “socially desirable manner,” where criminals don’t get millions and the “ordinary citizen is left with “crumbs from the table.”
Meanwhile, the Roots Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), is already reporting an uptick in requests for financial assistance, with affected individuals seeking help to purchase schoolbooks, basic food items and cover rent.
Founder Mtima Solwazi said most CEPEP workers lived pay cheque to pay cheque, leaving them particularly vulnerable in the aftermath of the contract terminations.
“Right here in Port-of-Spain, if you go into some supermarkets right now, it’s empty. Supermarkets on Queen Street, on Charlotte Street, because the people who would buy from these supermarkets are the persons on that lower income, because those supermarkets provide for those persons’ income, and if they don’t have an income, they cannot buy, right?”
Solwazi is now worried that petty crime will increase.
“I think the Government should revisit that or put something in place to support this most vulnerable group in society who will be directly affected by the inability of providing for their families through legal employment.”
He said the CEPEP firings affected many women who, in several cases, were the main bread winner for their families. He lamented that the job market may be unkind to them, as many accepted the CEPEP job as a last resort and do not possess the necessary skills to work elsewhere.
PNM responds
Former Local Government minister with responsibility for CEPEP, Faris Al-Rawi, yesterday said currently, there are 30,000 people who were put on the breadline by the Government.
He lamented that Government keeps shifting the goalpost on CEPEP, first questioning the awarding of contracts, then claiming the programme was infiltrated by criminal elements, and now framing its actions as an effort to “liberate” people from being mere grass-cutters.
Al-Rawi said the People’s National Movement main concern is the workers and is taking issue with them being diminished by the line minister.
“For us, common people, good people that get up in the morning and go to work and bring food home for their families, especially with the school term coming in September to start, we are worried about them, which is why our leader has taken us down the path of litigation,” he said, referring to the fact that a group of PNM lawyers is taking the matter to court on behalf of the fired contractors and workers.
However, he said litigation would take years and short-term relief is needed through social assistance grants. Al-Rawi said he is “astounded” that the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led Government, which positions itself as a people-centred Government, is operating in this way.
“What is quite astounding from somebody that has promoted things like baby milk grant and about looking after single mothers, etc., that there has been not one iteration of a thought on how the most vulnerable in our society are going to be given aid and assistance. They are without employment.”
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