NWA sickout, FLA report dispute and Caribbean SEZ push dominate CVM Lead Story

National Works Agency workers escalated their concerns over pay, restructuring and job security on May 20, with Jamaica Civil Service Association president Tisha Clark Griffiths saying about 90 per cent of staff called in sick. She said the JCSA represents more than 200 NWA employees and that a letter warning of action carried 78 signatures.

Clark Griffiths said the concerns include salary anomalies after compensation restructuring, supervisors earning less than people they manage, vacation leave implementation, unpaid tailoring allowance increases for auxiliary workers and drivers, and uncertainty around new institutional arrangements such as the One Road Authority and the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority. Works Minister Robert Morgan said the NWA’s chief executive had been directed to engage staff and the union, while Clark Griffiths said workers were asked to return pending a meeting next Tuesday and to wear black in solidarity.

The programme also examined the Opposition’s walkout from the House of Representatives over an Integrity Commission report concerning the Firearm Licensing Authority. Host Jodian Quarry noted the report had been before Parliament for 51 days and could not be published until tabled. Opposition spokesman Peter Bunting said media reports suggested allegations involving firearm grants, variations and revocations, though he had not seen the document. He argued that court action should not block tabling, citing a previous ruling on parliamentary immunity for such reports.

In economic news, Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority chief executive Kelli-Dawn Hamilton discussed the launch of the Caribbean Special Economic Zone Association in Panama City on May 13 during the 12th World Free Zones Organization conference. Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, the Dominican Republic and Aruba were named among founding members. Hamilton said Jamaica has about 110 SEZ companies, with lower corporate tax rates and duty and GCT relief on qualifying imports.

The international segment highlighted a World Health Organization alert over Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States indictment of former Cuban leader Raul Castro over the 1996 shootdown of civilian aircraft, and warnings about hotter, drier conditions linked to climate risks.