Still waiting on Government’s promise ‘to deliver’

THE EDITOR: It is eleven months since the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Honourable Patrick Manning stated that the arrears of increment for public servants, for the period January 1987 to December 1995 will be paid at the end of November 2002.

This was good news, but up to this time, this writer has been forward and backward, and can’t seem to be anywhere near to receiving his share of the arrears. I have no problem with the Prime Minister making such a statement on television, to indicate that his Government has delivered, but the problem arises when there isn’t any mechanism or system in place so that things can progress smoothly. The fact that I have had to wait for nearly a year, and I am sure I am not the only one in this position, I will like the Prime Minister Mr Patrick Manning and Minister of Health Mr Colm Imbert, to get together and be serious in setting up some form of mechanism, at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital in the Ministry of Health, so that the term we have delivered would make sense.

Procedure which must be followed in order to receive the arrears are: (1) Applications must be completed (2) The Verified Liability Statement must be attached to the application (3) Applications must be approved by the Officers line Ministry (4) Completed forms must go to the Comptroller of Accounts. After all, it is pointless, making statements on the television, about we have delivered, without actually putting the mechanism in place to make it happen. So please Mr Prime Minister and Mr Minister of Health, fix it so that public servants like this retiree and many others who cannot get their arrears will at least get it now.

MARK TWAIN
Cascade