BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – PERMANENT SECRETARY in the Ministry of Public Works and Utilities Oaklyn Peets has denied rumours that as part of the corporatisation process, the government intends to terminate the services of some employees of the St. Kitts Electricity Department.
Close to two weeks ago, SKNVibes caught wind of rumours which suggested that on October 18 (today) employees of that department would be asked to attend interviews resulting in whether they would be re-employed under the corporatised entity or their services would be terminated.
Other rumours suggested that the employees were previously informed of redundancy packages, which would be offered by the entity, should they opt to withdraw their services.
Peets, in an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, confirmed that interviews would be conducted today. He however explained that the purpose of these interviews is to ascertain from the employees, whether or not they would prefer to remain with the entity.
“The intention of the government in its corporatisation is not to terminate or lay off like that. There is a misconception that needs to be clarified. Because there is going to be a new entity, the government would streamline those who are going to move into the new entity (and) give them a choice in the matter. And what we gave them were the options that were available to them so that they can go aside, assess the situation, analyze what is given and then come back to us and say exactly what they intend to do. That’s the crux of the matter.”
Peets reiterated that the government’s intention is not to terminate people’s services. He noted that information gathered from the interviews would be used in charting the course forward, as the St. Kitts Electricity Department inches towards corporatisation.
“Whether the people go or not, it depends on them. Some may want to leave; they are at liberty to do that. Some might want to take whatever is given to them in terms of emoluments and leave the government system…and not go over to the corporatised entity. They have choices. I think we would emphasise those choices and we are here to carry out interviews in order to determine what we will do, based on the choices…”
A concern which many have raised when the government first announced its plan to corporatise the electricity services was that that step would drive the cost of electricity upwards.
Minister with responsibility for Public Works and Utilities the Hon. Asim Martin, in a previous interview with SKNVibes, suggested that the move would effect a decrease in the price of electricity which would redound to the benefit of the consumer.
“The lower rates will improve the lives of thousands of citizens and will create an environment for greater investment in all sectors of the economy,” he stated.
However, when Peets was asked if there will be an electricity price hike following corporatisation, he said he would not be able to say at this stage.
“This is very, very, very, very premature. And if I were to tell you yes or no, it will not reflect the essence or the objective of the new entity. I think any increase in cost then, would depend on a number of variables based on the prevailing condition the market poses and the particular circumstances surrounding the new entity. And I am not in a position to speak to that particular issue.”
The Permanent Secretary said he does not know exactly when the process of corporatisation would be completed.
“As a matter of fact, it should have happened already because we are the last in the region to corporatise our electricity department. We are hoping that very shortly, in the next few months, we would be able to achieve that particular goal on the preliminaries which we are now working on…like the interviews and all the other things that you mentioned.”
Once corporatised, the St. Kitts Electricity Department would be still be government-owned but administered by a Board of Directors.
