Minister of Labour and Immigration Vincent Peet explained during a press conference at the Ministry of Labour and Immigration that officials at his ministry and the Treasury Department had determined that $6.12 million is the total sum owed to some 900 workers.
But according to minister Peet, not all workers will be receiving their entire payments.
“In accordance wit the provisions of the Financial Administration Act, which limits the government to $5 million for this purpose, the government in the interest of time decided to allocate $5 million to the workers, with the understanding that all workers whose total payout package amounted to $10,000 or less, would be paid in full,” he said.
“This represents some 650 workers and this is in keeping with our promise that as many workers as possible would be paid in full in accordance with the formula outlined in the employment act.”
He said that approval for the release of the remaining $1.12 million must come from parliament.
“By law the government can just at this stage disburse $5 million,” he said. “To get the additional $1.12 million parliament must approve that additional expenditure. So we must go to parliament to get the difference.”
Minister Peet indicated that this gesture demonstrates prudence on behalf of the government to get through this season while seeking to attract the kind of sustainable investment for the Royal Oasis Resort that would develop the property into the premier property of Grand Bahama.
He said that the reality of the matter is that in Grand Bahama, the government has spent several million dollars on hurricane relief and housing initiatives and that the severance pay funds are being disbursed just prior to the start of yet another hurricane season.
He said that without knowing what this season has in store for the country and the island of Grand Bahama, the government is still prepared to assist the displaced workers.
Minister Peet also indicated that the government is moving to ensure that redundancy requirements are protected for future workers.
“As we speak, The Attorney Generals office is putting together a recommendation that will ensure that in the future all redundancy entitlements will be protected by legislation,” he said.
“Workers throughout The Bahamas will be guaranteed redundancy payments which will come from a non-contributory fund set up for that specific purpose.”
Close to 1000 workers of the royal oasis resort lost their jobs after the resort was shut down because of extensive hurricane damage last September.
Since then, they have been lobbying for relief. The payments are scheduled for distribution today at the Foster B. Pestina Auditorium in Freeport beginning at 9a.m.
The minister reminded all persons eligible for severance disbursements to bring photo identification preferably a company identification showing their department and employee number.
By: Perez Clarke, The Bahama Journal
