00:00Coming out of a meeting convened by the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government with local government heads last
00:07Wednesday, a major problem would have come to the forefront. All regional corporations are in dire straits financially.
00:14Port of Spain Mayor Chinua Allen says the issue has the potential to cause serious ramifications.
00:19All corporations complained that they were short of money to meet their obligations for salaries for public servants and in
00:28many instances for the NIS contributions for public servants as well.
00:33I can say that in the case of the Port of Spain Corporation, our budget to pay salaries to our
00:41public servants will be exhausted at the end of May of 2026 and we have a shortfall of somewhere in
00:50the order of $30 million to pay salaries.
00:54Mayor Allen indicates that while these funds are usually allocated, the situation stems from the December 2025 back pay to
01:01public servants.
01:02He tells us the various regional corporations were ordered to make the advance payments to which they complied.
01:08But the back pay had not been budgeted for by the ministry.
01:13And so now because of poor budgetary planning, we find ourselves in a fiscal fiasco where we in very short
01:22order, we are not going to be able to pay salaries.
01:25In addition, the city corporation will not be able to pay garbage collectors by the end of June and has
01:31a shortfall of $5.25 million after having faced a 40% cut in this line item in the 2025
01:38budget.
01:39He adds that a cut in the public sector investment program from $19.7 million to $4.1 million is
01:46stymie in critical works and contractors are being owed millions of dollars.
01:51As a result, an underground drain in Belmond, which could lead to the collapse of the roadway, is unable to
01:57be fixed.
01:58A portion of the East Rye River wall that is collapsing and is threatening several townhouses have done site visits
02:05at the space, have spoken with the residents,
02:08and we have not been able to get any money to be able to fix this portion of the East
02:14Rye River wall before it totally collapses and it causes these townhouses to collapse.
02:19Meanwhile, he states that the Chaguanas Corporation got an increase of $20 million for its PSIP.
02:26On another note, Allen says Point 14 Regional Corporation has not been able to pay traveling allowances since last year.
02:35Government is due to undertake a media budget review soon, but Allen isn't certain that a problem, in particular,
02:41what is being faced by his corporation will be addressed, given what he says transpired in the media review following
02:49the general election.
02:51Our budget for goods and services was cut from $50 million to $30 million.
02:56Allen states that it was not resolved in the last fiscal plan either.
03:00The Port of Spain mayor is calling for good sense to prevail on the part of Finance Minister Devindran Atanku.
03:07And the time for corrective action is now, and we're making a call on the ministry to take immediate corrective
03:14action,
03:15restore the budget of the city of Port of Spain.
03:19Sixth demesda has been created.
03:21Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
03:25The Port of Spain mayor is a part of the city of Port of Spain.
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