The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

TERMINATIONS are continuing throughout the week in various government departments as workers' contractual agreements expire, Brensil Rolle, Minister of State for the Public Service, told The Tribune yesterday.

While Mr Rolle said he could not reveal specifically which departments would see contracted workers sent home this week, he said this was expected to continue in the coming weeks.

Asked how these terminations were expected to affect workforce numbers, the Garden Hills MP said this could not be answered definitively because the government was still in the process of trying to figure out the total number of contracted workers and where they had been placed.

Last week, Mr Rolle told reporters outside Parliament that officials were also looking into an additional 1,700 persons who are on contract.

In this regard, he said yesterday the government was challenged because in many cases there was "no paper trail" for these hires.

"We don't know how many there are yet and this is because in some cases there is no paper trail for these employees and so we find ourselves having to do some digging to figure this out," he told The Tribune.

"But the process of sending people home is continuing this week as contracts come to an end."

Last week, the state minister confirmed that 21 workers from the National Insurance Board (NIB) were set to be let go, as their contractual agreements expired last Friday.

However, he said it was possible that the agency would examine these individuals to identify if any of them were best suited to remain at NIB. He said this is "certainly an option."

He said the group was a part of the former Christie administration's pre-election hires, adding that they were hired about eight to 12 months ahead of the May 10 election. Asked to describe their job descriptions, Mr Rolle said he could not say specifically.

At the time, he explained that the group of 1,700 contracted workers was in addition to two other agencies with high levels of contracted workers and the 3,000 people that were hired on the 52-week job programme. These contracts, he added, will also expire in a number of days.

"(Former) Minister Jerome Fitzgerald hired workers. His quote to the workers according to my PS (permanent secretary) and some workers on the question of whether or not workers who had been working in the Ministry of Education - whether or not they should be made permanent and pensionable - his quote was 'that's them other people business, I am making permanent and pensionable those that I hired,'" Mr Rolle told the press last Wednesday following the morning session of Parliament.

"So, what does that mean to you or me? Well for the record they hired their people, that's what they say."

He also said: "We are totally different from the PLP. We don't hire based on political orientation. We hire based on merit. That's our record and that's our history. We are not getting rid of anybody.

"I said their contracts have expired and as a consequence the director of NIB, consistent with the contracts, is living up to the conditions of the contract. That is not to say that NIB will not examine these individuals and identify who (are) the best persons who were working there and may call them back. That's certainly an option."

"But we are only honouring the contracts. We are saying that the contract has expired. That's the end of the contract. We are not in the position to renew your contract. We could now make a case as to why we should keep you or why we should bring you back and have you re-engaged," Mr Rolle, who also has responsibility for National Insurance, said.