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maj. tom wrote:‘$69 not good enough’
By Newsday Staff Tuesday, October 23 2012
Miscommunication over the hours of work for which $69 per day would be paid under the People and Projects for Progress Programme (PPPP), led to roving protests and roadblocks in east Port-of-Spain yesterday afternoon.
Debris, including pieces of wood, bamboo, tyres, an old refrigerator and even a large plastic garbage bin, complete with wheels, were used to block St Pauls Street, then Piccadilly Street and finally Nelson Street, by the corner of Independence Square North, between 1 pm and 2.15 pm yesterday. The angry residents of St Pauls Street and Mango Rose then marched back to the St Paul Street Community Centre where, a couple hours earlier, they were informed of the $69 wage for eight hours of work while participating in day one of a two-day orientation session for PPPP. They had already begun work, cleaning the streets and apartment buildings of east Port-of-Spain when the protests began.
In response, Local Government Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan said the residents were to receive $69 for working four hours as is the case for persons employed under the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) of his ministry. Administration of PPPP falls under the URP and therefore the Local Government Ministry, however project execution is being handled by the National Security Ministry. The programme was launched at St Paul Street Community Centre by National Security Minister, Jack Warner, last Wednesday.
However, the residents deemed the pay an insult.
“Sixty-nine dollars a day is not enough,” a woman who identified herself as “Warrior Princess” told Newsday while observing police officers from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) and firefighters remove debris from the corner of Nelson Street and Independence Square North. “They want to pay everyone the same money, from supervisors to labourers. That’s not right. We expected better salaries under this PPPP,” she said.
So incensed was “Warrior Princess” by the salary being offered, she told Newsday, “I would rather somebody pimp me out on Murray Street (PoS) than work eight hours for $69. You hear me? I would rather sell my body on the street, and make more money while I at it, than earn less than the average URP worker does.”
A male resident expressed a similar aversion to the salary being offered, telling the media, “I would rather do the crime than work for $69 a day.” PPPP participant and east PoS youth activist, Kingsley McMoharne recalled what led to yesterday’s roadblocks.
“The orientation session was supposed to start 8 am but they had us waiting at the centre until 11 am. That’s when they said it was a URP project and the pay would be $69. People were real vex to hear that. Some of them tear up their application papers before marching outside, where they blocked St Paul Street.
“Then the group moved on to Piccadilly Street where they set up another roadblock. After that some people used bamboo to block Nelson Street but nobody stayed there. We headed back to the community centre on St Paul Street,” McMoharne told Newsday.
He added that “a fair wage for labourers would be around $150 a day. If you comparing it to the private sector. Minister Warner spoke about employment opportunities but this don’t make sense, not at $69 a day.” Not true at all, said Rambachan when Newsday asked him about the apparent discrepancy.
“They are being paid $69/day for four hours of work, not eight. I don’t know who told them that but it’s not true. They were told at last week’s launch they would be paid for four hours of good work. We are trying to get maximum value for money because it cost the Government $389 million a year to run URP in 2011 and 2012,” Rambachan stated. “Two hundred and fifty-three million dollars of that money went to wages alone while $48 million went to administrative costs and salaries, so Government must expect value for money and prepare those in URP to eventually find permanent employment, be it on their own or via the private sector,” he said.
Rambachan also said he did not expect that yesterday’s protests would delay the conclusion of orientation today or tomorrow’s scheduled start of refurbishment work in the St Paul Street and Mango Rose communities. Before the protests, residents were hard at work on George and Nelson Streets cutting grass, getting rid of garbage and conducting general maintenance around the apartments. Some said they were glad to finally start working to receive a decent salary. One resident was part of the “Colour Me Orange” programme, a cleaning and beautification initiative of the Housing Development Corporation, and stated that PPPP is doing more work than they did in “Colour Me Orange”. “We are not just cleaning and beautifying the areas, but we would also be doing renovation of the apartments and other infrastructures,” he said. “Drainage was a problem here on George Street, which was to be dealt with in the “Colour Me Orange” programme, but it wasn’t done. We are currently dealing with the drainage problems, so you can see that we are doing a lot more for the area this time.”
Angela Harrison, a resident of Nelson Street, said she was happy for the job, but her major concern was whether or not it will be a permanent one. Harrison was a past worker with “Colour Me Orange” but did not get permanent employment. “I am working very hard because I have three children to take care of, so my hope for this (PPPP) programme is to receive a permanent job and training in a skill. I want my children to have financial security at the end of the day,” said Harrison.
Akil Gail, a resident of Nelson Street, expressed his hopes of getting a permanent job. He stated he was excited to learn a skill with the PPPP so he can have a better life. “Even though I don’t have children to take care of, I have the responsibility of taking care of my sick mother,” he said.
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,168148.html
Copyright © Daily News Limited 2012Xplode wrote:had a lil sub-contract to get some bamboo for a construction site around town,them take all and 3 pallets to block up the road ,could do nothing when mob was approaching,about 50 guntas and guntress ,a throw meh frame
Xplode, looks like your bamboo make papers boy.
MG Man wrote:pioneer wrote:Guntas again, while rest of society took free education seriously these people breed like cockroach and now demand the state GIVE them jobs and basketball scholarships.
why not?
if the ruling party can take my tax dollars and squander it on choppers, entourages, rum, cheap business suits, poorly written speeches, ill conceived business trips etc, why can't I get a lil bligh for my 7 pickney?
Bareback wrote:Gubment need to start test flying an Apache Helo. What I have heard is that sometimes, due to pilot error, missiles have been launched and in some rare cases entire communities have been vapourized by said missiles.
Testing, in my opinion, should take place in an area where the pilot has to navigate rough terrain and even more difficult landing spots. One such area that fits this description is the Laventille/ Picton area due to its hilly terrain and overhead wires. This would certainly pose quite the test for the pilot and truly test his ability to manage his weaponry.
What are you guys' thought on this?
ADONI wrote:Bareback wrote:Gubment need to start test flying an Apache Helo. What I have heard is that sometimes, due to pilot error, missiles have been launched and in some rare cases entire communities have been vapourized by said missiles.
Testing, in my opinion, should take place in an area where the pilot has to navigate rough terrain and even more difficult landing spots. One such area that fits this description is the Laventille/ Picton area due to its hilly terrain and overhead wires. This would certainly pose quite the test for the pilot and truly test his ability to manage his weaponry.
What are you guys' thought on this?
Country_Bookie wrote:If these people really serious abt wanting jobs, why doesn’t the gov’t build a factory in their area where they can be employed? It would have to be labour intensive with simple processes since we know the majority have no real job skills. Of course u would need a camera in every corner to prevent thievery.
A factory would at least produce something, rather than this 4hours a day “make work” nonsense that adds nothing to our GDP.
tr1ad wrote:wait, is not even a full 8 hrs and dem complaining about 69 a day?
tr1ad wrote:wait, is not even a full 8 hrs and dem complaining about 69 a day?
Wht's next free KFC ? 
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