City councillors raise doubt over number of sanitation workers

Heston Bostwick

With the employment cost at City Hall accounting for more than 65% of its April expenditure the question of just how many functioning staff members are at the municipality has become an issue which united councillors across party lines.

At yesterday’s statutory meeting an issue which Councillor Heston Bostwick has made into a personal crusade was referred to the council’s Human Resource Committee for an investigation after the Human Resource and other departments appeared to disagree as to how many sanitation workers are on the council payroll. 

“‘For me sitting here as the Mayor there is a cookup going on but it ain’t got salt…We can’t pay people who are not working here,” Mayor Ubraj Narine declared during the meeting even as Head of the Human Resource Committee and Town Clerk (acting) Sharon Harry-Monroe cautioned him against publicly suggesting that impropriety exists.

The matter first came to attention at the April 23 meeting when Bostwick stood to question the staffing of the Solid Waste Department.