The Chaguanas Borough Corporation has over $8 million in unspent balances which they can use to meet wages and Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) obligations.
The response by Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, Faris Al-Rawi, to claims by Chaguanas Mayor Faaiq Mohammed that the Corporation does not have resources to pay its workers.
In a media release, Minister Al-Rawi notes that at a meeting on August 15th with the Ministry and the Chaguanas Borough Corporation, it was discussed that the Corporation had approximately $1.3 million in audited unspent balances available for expenditure and $7.3 million in unaudited unspent balances in its Corporation Account.
He says it was agreed that the Ministry would authorise the $1.3 million in audited unspent monies to be used for Wages and COLA and it would audit the unspent balances to allow the Corporation to meet the approximately $1.8 million in expenditure required for the continued employment of some 624 workers.