Displaced workers take up training

Most of the workers from the soon-to-be disbanded National Beautification Programme have signed onto Government’s retraining initiative which could facilitate their transfer to other work areas after March 31.

The workers, who took part in the efforts to clean up the island following the ashfall from the La Soufriere volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines two years ago and who later took part in the beautification programme which will end next month have taken the opportunity to sharpen their skill set.

Leader of Government Business in the House of Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works, Santia Bradshaw, revealed this in Parliament as the House  approved a $23 million supplemental for her ministry to undertake a number of ventures.

Regarding the workers, Bradshaw said, “We decided when the programme came to an end that we wanted to retrain the workers by enrolling them in the Skills Training programme to enhance and improve their skill set. Initially, about 75 per cent of the workers had signed the forms for this purpose, and more recently another five per cent have come on board. We have already started classes in tree trimming, electrical installation, skid steer (Bobcat) driving and gabion building.”

She added, “Contract letters have already gone out, and we are ensuring that their NIS payments are up to date and are hoping that there is no backlog where that is concerned. We have also engaged the services of a communications company to help the workers in the transitioning process and some private sector companies have already agreed to work with the former workers once they complete their training.”

The ministry is also embarking on a programme to pave tenantry roads. Bradshaw said, “We have allocated $3 million to this programme, which will cover the purchase of equipment to pave roads that are about 100 metres in length. We will ensure that any drainage issues are addressed and we will source some of the equipment locally and elsewhere. We plan to start with 60 roads before the end of the current financial year on March 31.”

Government is also continuing its pothole patching programme, with Bradshaw noting that they were presently having some challenges with equipment, personnel and asphalt to get the job done, but were seeking additional finance to cover this. (DH)