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'Deputy Gov’s Office holding up increment payments' – Premier Fahie
The Premier was at the time speaking during a special live Tourism Update yesterday, June 14, 2019, on ZBVI 780AM, when questioned by moderator Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline about when exactly civil servants can expect their payments.
Payments due since 2016
He said there were no increments given from 2016, even before Hurricane Irma. “We have been the one who are actually working on the increment and we have been in negotiations from the time the budget started. In the budget process they didn’t have a figure for me because there were no monies budgeted for increments, none!” the Premier said.
Further, Hon Fahie implored that the money could not even be budgeted for since the figure due was not known, “So when persons were saying before the elections the increments is ready to go, that’s factually not so,” he said in relation to a National Democratic Party (NDP) promise to make the payments after the February 2019 elections date.
Hon Fahie revealed that his government had to ask the Human Resources Department at the Deputy Governor’s Office for an estimated figure to put into the budget so that the increments can be paid.
“So we put in close to $4M into the budget, the first option that they brought to us was close to $4M to pay public service increments, we are not the ones in terms of elected officials who do the research [on] what are the increments to give to the public service,” he added.
Gov’t not holding up process - Hon Fahie
He said the Government was given two options, one for partial payment based on the initial estimates, however, another option was provided that accounted for all arrears due, in addition to an incremental salary increase for officers.
The Leader of Government Business revealed that Government instead went with option two, which had increased by $2M, since according to him, his administration wanted to go the best route.
“So what we told them is we do not want to take the cheapest route, because it’s the most convenient, we want to take the most fairest route to the public service,” one that covered all the back payments he said.
“This government has made the commitment from day one to pay the increments, we could not be the ones holding up the increments,” the Premier lashed out in regarding some criticisms over why his administration is yet to pay the monies owed.
“Now that that is finished, Cabinet has done all it could… the government has nothing more to do. Our hands are now washed like Pontius Pilate, it is in the hands of the Human Resources Department of the Deputy Governor to make sure that the monies get to the public servants,” Hon Fahie said.
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