By Anna Ramdass
DO the right thing.
This was the call Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath made to Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) contractors as he disclosed yesterday that they will receive payments for the month of July and, therefore, they will be able to pay the 10,000 plus workers that have been affected.
The Minister told the Express that the CEPEP contracts has a compensation provision whereby one month鈥檚 payment can be paid in lieu of notice of termination.
鈥淲e invoked the clause of the contract that said they are paid one month鈥檚 payment in lieu of notice and, therefore, once they are paid that will cover the month of July and, therefore, they are expected to do right by their employees having received or be received in the near future the one month鈥檚 payment,鈥 he said.
He said CEPEP does not hire the workers but the contractors hire the workers. There are some 10,000 workers under this programme.
The minister said the Government did not just act arbitrarily and did consider the workers as he reiterated the payment clause in the contract.
He criticised the former People鈥檚 National Movement (PNM) Government for using the programme as a political tool as he disclosed that a new CEPEP board and management will be announced this week.
Padarath said there will be full transparency and accountability of CEPEP after it undergoes a full transition. He emphasised the need to account for taxpayers鈥 dollars.
He also announced there will be the opening of a registration process for CEPEP and an equitable system.
The minister said the contractors will be hired from different communities and will be mandated to hire workers from that particular community to ensure equity and no discrimination.
Last week, Padarath confirmed that all contractors have been terminated, following a thorough review and advice from the Attorney General.
At a post-Cabinet news conference on June 5, 2025, Padarath claimed that on the eve of the April 28 general election鈥攂etween April 14 and April 24鈥攖he PNM government renewed over 360 CEPEP contracts for a three-year period.
The minister stated then that an audit would be conducted on all CEPEP assets, including vehicles, equipment and rental facilities, along with a comprehensive review of the programme in terms of its mandate and the process by which these contracts were renewed without any evaluation.
The controversial matter has gathered national attention both inside and outside the Parliament with the PNM Opposition offering legal clinics for the terminated contractors.
Nakhid to Al-Rawi:
Donate money
At the Senate sitting yesterday the matter was also raised by both the Government and Opposition benches.
Minister in the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs David Nakhid lambasted Opposition Senator for the irony of trying to be the champion of the people.
Speaking on the debate of the Finance (Supplementary Appropriation) Financial Year 2025 Bill, Nakhid listed about four properties that the State rents from the family of Opposition Senator and former Local Government Minister Fairs Al-Rawi.
He said annually this 鈥渕odern-day Uriah Buzz Butler鈥 collects $20.8 million. Nakhid said this amounted to over $200 million over the near decade of the PNM鈥檚 governance. He called on Al-Rawi to use some of these monies to donate to workers.
鈥淭hat sum of $200 million over ten years, donate a quarter of that to those poor and grieving workers that you so care about,鈥 he said.
Existing inequity
Nakhid also highlighted the inequity that exists in the CEPEP programme.
鈥淭wo hundred and ninety-three out of the 330-odd contracts were in PNM constituencies. That is not a small number. Then we have to ask ourselves if they have so much love for black people and Indian people who are the majority shareholders of this country why then not have a programme with CEPEP that can possibly make these people graduate from cutting grass and painting stone into something more meaningful for their lives, something more sustainable that will give them some kind of generational wealth,鈥 he said.
He continued: 鈥淣o, you make sure that your family fixed with generational wealth and you make sure that yours fix also. This will not be acceptable by the UNC at all. What we are about in the UNC is to make sure we break the monopoly of the 鈥楶NM Mafia鈥 that control a programme that we meant to help poor and working class people but has come to enrich their friends and their financiers…we will break that and that is why you all are so upset.鈥
Speaking on the heels of Nakhid, Opposition Senator Foster Cummings said the CEPEP programme, which was started under the former Prime Minister Patrick Manning Government in 2003, was designed for several reasons. He said this included an entrepreneurial programme to assist persons who wanted to get involved in business, fulfilling an environmental mandate in keeping spaces clean and providing employment for those vulnerable in society.
He said a large number of these people are single mothers who depend on the programme to provide for their family.
Cummings said in 2015 when the PNM won the election and replaced the People鈥檚 Partnership government the Dr Keith Rowley administration met contractors whose contracts were renewed on the month of the election.
鈥淎ll of those contractors were left to complete their contracts up to 2018 Mr President with no interruption,鈥 he said.
He said these people are at the 鈥渓owest economic ebb鈥 in the country and should not fall victim to 鈥減olitical gamesmanship鈥. Cummings said there is a 鈥渟mokescreen鈥 with claims of corruption in the programme.
鈥淗ow does that answer the cry of the mother who has to buy school books for her children (as) we are approaching July-August….whether a minister has buildings rented to the State or not, how does it answer the question that this Government summarily dismissed 11,000 workers in this country over the last few weeks?鈥 he asked rhetorically.