Financial Woes Continue to Sink Port Authority

Details

Economy

Wednesday, 20 June 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St John's - The decision taken by the Port Authority earlier this month to pay only a portion of its monthly-paid workers and attend to the rest based on availability of funds during the course of the month, is not working out as well as was hoped.

Caribarena understands that a number of monthly-paid workers remain without salary for the month of May up to Tuesday June 19. Wigley George – General Secretary of the Antigua Trades & Labour Union, which represents the majority of the workers at the Port, confirmed that the workers indeed remain unpaid.

They are now joined by the weekly workers who, as of June 20, will have gone some three weeks without an income.

George revealed that AT&LU Industrial Relations Officer Ralph Potter had met with the Port’s employees as recently as Monday to “bring them up to speed with the situation there.”  Attempts to reach Potter for an insight into that meeting were unsuccessful.

The Port management has reportedly promised to have at least two weeks’ wages ready by the end of the day on Wednesday, as well as the May earnings for those monthly workers who remain unpaid; and besides the obvious challenges, George said he is optimistic that some moneys would be handed over on Wednesday.

George reiterated his belief that the situation the port continues to find itself in is not one that can be handled with a band-aid, but rather with serious and committed intervention from the government or investors.

“The port is no longer generating the sort of revenue to sustain itself. It seems to be in a very precarious position at this time and would need the intervention of the government,” George said.

The general secretary urged that the recent report about the port should not be ignored, but rather embraced and treated with some regard before the port implodes and Antigua & Barbuda is made to suffer with the loss of valuable cargo to other nearby destinations with better organization and satisfied workers.

“There is a lot of refurbishing needed at the port. It is not in a position to generate the kind of revenue it needs to do that and it is not in the standing to get credit on its own,” George said. "There are other things that the port needs in terms of equipment etcetera. The port needs to be looked at and looked at now.”

He cited the stalled voluntary separation initiative, introduced by the port over one year ago, that could not be honoured because of revenue shortfalls.

“There must be some provision made to make sure that the port is brought back on good footing and reorganized.”

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