Civil servants, owed an accumulative total of just under 30 million dollars in salary deductions, have an advocate in the person of Othlyn Vanterpool, Elected Member for District 1, Island Harbour.
Mr. Vanterpool called on the Government of Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, in the House of Assembly, on Tuesday this week, to at least pay a portion of the money to the civil servants to relieve their long wait and suffering. He specifically asked for the payment to be made so that they could have a Merry Christmas.
“The civil servants, Madam Speaker, would welcome some of that money. Even at this eleventh hour something can be done to at least pay a percentage of that money to the civil servants,” he said. “Madam Speaker, I would advise the Chief Minister and his Government, from this standpoint, to do something to make sure that at least some of this money is paid back to the civil servants. The Chief Minister is a man who can get things done when he wants to, Madam Speaker…He can do it; he can pay the civil servants at least some of their money by Christmas. They are depending on it.
“Madam Speaker, members [of the civil service] are calling me all the time and asking me, ‘Othlyn, please bring it up in the House; and ask the members on the Government side to support the call’ so that at least they can be paid a little of their money for Christmas. So I did my piece to ask. You need to pay the money.”
Mr. Vanterpool recalled that agreement was reached between the previous Government and the civil service unions for a 5 per cent cut in salaries until the economy improved. “The present Government in turn went ahead and cut again,” he went on. “The civil servants were very patient, Madam Speaker, and were understanding because they knew the economically-challenging times in which things were being done.
“They were very patient, but it is time that the situation is fixed. Sit with the unions, negotiate a cut-off point and a method to pay back. I don’t have to be telling the Government that it is a reasonable thing to do. It is a logical thing to do otherwise that debt will be getting out of hand, Madam Speaker. It is being increased on a daily basis.”
Mr. Vanterpool’s comments were part of his contribution to the debate of the 2012 Anguilla Government’s Budget.
