FUNDS issued

There may soon be light at the end of the tunnel for those National Conservation Commission (NCC) workers unfairly dismissed during Government’s retrenchment programme.

 

This as funds owed to them by the NCC may be in their wallets by the end of this week.

 

Speaking to the media, General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union, Toni Moore, revealed that through checks with the Finance Ministry, it was discovered that the funds had been disbursed from the Accountant General and should soon make it into the hands of the workers. In August, Moore was reported saying that a proposal was put forward by the BWU for these former workers to be paid in full by the end of last month.

 

Giving an update at Solidarity House yesterday, she stated, “We received word on Friday when we made our last check, that there is a very strong likelihood that the monies can be disbursed to those persons during this week. It was anticipated that the September 30 deadline would be met and we know that the monies have been released from the Accountant General and so on, but there are different levels in the system that have to be cleared before these are released to the NCC. So when the BWU is sure that the monies are on the bank account of the NCC, is when we will be indicating publicly to those workers that they can go and claim the money due to them.”

 

She said that the receipt of these outstanding funds would finally spell the end to an “unfortunate ordeal”.

 

“If the workers get paid this week, the BWU would be assured that the end to this very unfortunate ordeal, which has impacted so many workers and their families, is behind them and we can look with them as we already have for some, to see what alternatives might exist. But in a labour market that is already stretched and challenged, it has been difficult and we have been successful in only getting a couple of them re-employed,” Moore remarked. (JMB)