Wednesday, September 9 2009

CHAGUANAS Mayor Natasha Navas yesterday disclosed the Chaguanas Borough Corporation (CBC) returned a $309,000 cheque which Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner had given to the CBC to pay the salaries of 54 contract workers who were retrenched from the corporation.

Navas told Newsday that the corporation decided to return the cheque to Warner because it was taking too long to receive word from the Local Government Ministry about whether it was legal for private citizens to pay the salaries of government workers.

Stating that the CBC could not cash the cheque because the ministry was awaiting word from Attorney General John Jeremie on the matter, Navas said the workers could not be paid. She added that because the corporation did not want to leave the workers in limbo, it was decided it was best to return the cheque to Warner.

The cheque was cashed and the money shared amongst the workers.

Warner had given the cheque to the CBC on August 10. Local Government minister Hazel Manning said she referred the matter to Jeremie on August 17. On August 22, Manning said she was still awaiting a reply from Jeremie. “He’ll work on it. We’ll get it soon,” she said.