BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – Approximately 19 days before the Electricity Department is transformed into a fully corporatised entity, officials have indicated that plans are progressing according to schedule.
The Minister of Public Works and Utilities, Dr. Asim Martin, made an appearance at the Prime Minister’s latest press conference during which he gave the media a progress report on the transformational process. In the timeline he outlined, the Electricity Department is to become a corporatised entity by August 1, 2011.
And according to that timeline, letters were to have been issued to each employee of the Electricity Department informing them of the opportunity to apply for positions in the corporatised entity. Responses to that correspondence were expected from July 8 and by July 15, letters were to have been issued to the applicants, offering them a position at the new entity.
By July 22, responses to the offers are expected to be given and on July 31, the Electricity Department will cease to exist. The coming into being of the St. Kitts Electricity Company (SKEC) will take effect on August 1, 2011.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Public Works and Utilities, Lenrick Lake, said the transition is “progressing well” and that once the current trend continues, the August 1 deadline will be met.
“Everything that was supposed to have been done by now had been done. We are on schedule. We have begun receiving the responses and we are on schedule and it’s just for the company to send out the employment offers.”
After the new establishment comes into being, the present positions at the Electricity Department will be abolished and the then former workers would be given whatever benefits owned to them.
The corporatised entity will operate under the leadership of a Board of Directors and according to Minister Martin, all liabilities and assets which the Electricity Department possesses, will be transferred to the SKEC.
He also indicated that, unlike the current situation, a more reliable supply of electricity is expected from the corporatised entity. Dr. Martin said the day-to-day operations of the SKEC would be overseen by a yet-unnamed management company which will be contracted for a three-year period.
