$10 URP rate for women could increase

THE $10 per hour rate paid to women employed in the URP Women’s Programme could be increased when the programme re-starts before the end of the year. The programme would also be expanded to include Tobago.

Minister of Local Government, Jarette Narine, said the possibility is being explored by his Ministry, under which the programme falls. He was speaking yesterday during the Budget debate in the House of Representatives. Narine said of the $200 million allocated in the 2003/2004 Budget for URP, $15 million would go towards the women’s programme which will include Tobago. Narine also categorically denied that there was disparity in the programme as alleged by UNC St Joseph MP, Gerald Yetming. The Minister explained that the programme, which employed single mothers, was concentrated in areas where there were many schools. He said obviously there were more schools on the East/West corridor. He pointed out that both Barataria/San Juan and St Joseph were included in the programme. He said the women worked five hours a day, from 9 am to 2 pm at $10 an hour and maybe the rate would increase this year. Narine said last year 16,310 women were employed in the programme at a cost of $16.3 million.

Narine further said that when the PNM took office last year, it found that between 1997 to 2001, Government owed $30 million to various contractors for work under the URP. He said Government had begun to settle the debt, but still owed $15.9 million. He said it was also discovered in the auditor’s report that $250,000 was listed to be paid for repairs to Government quarters in Penal and another sum of $279,450 was supposed to be paid for work on the office of the Siparia MP, Kamla Persad-Bissessar. However, Narine said it was discovered that both figures were really for work on the MP’s office and not Government quarters. He said he stopped the payment and saved $2 million. Narine said the MP subsequently complained about police going into her office. He said as a result contractors were now afraid to collect their monies because police had gotten involved.

Narine said thousands of dollars were also saved on other projects, as a result of Government’s refusal to pay the sums requested. Narine lamented that there must be transparency and accountability in the URP and said it was a sad day when Yetming could say that the money channeled to the programme would be used to buy guns. Touching on the Road Improvement Programme, Narine said last year $20 million of the $23.7 million under the programme was used for paving roads.