An internal miscommunication is being blamed for a Parliament Facebook post which said Finance Minister Colm Imbert was expected to bring a motion to approve the 120th Salaries Review Commission (SRC) report at Monday’s sitting in the lower house.
A Parliament spokesperson confirmed this on Sunday.
The post was made at around 10 am on December 8 but was eventually removed.
"The SRC promo for the debate subject was an internal miscommunication and was inadvertently posted as one of the items to be addressed on Monday," the spokesperson said.
Although the motion does appear on Monday’s Order Paper, Leader of Government Business Camille Robinson-Regis explained that the debates scheduled for Monday were the approval of the draft Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Order, 2024 and the bills to amend the constitution to accord Tobago self-governance as well as to repeal the Tobago House of Assembly Act and provide for the powers and functions of the Tobago Island Government and legislature.
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Robinson-Regis said in a phone interview on Sunday that there was a motion about the SRC on the Order Paper but the matters for action on Monday were the EBC report and the two Tobago bills.
“The Facebook post on the Parliament’s page is inaccurate, there will be no such debate. The matters that are being debated are, in fact, the EBC report and we are doing committee stage of the two Tobago bills,” she said.
The Tobago bills had been on the Order Paper since 2021 and had also been in committee since then as well, she added. She said the committee stage was where the bills were examined clause by clause.
She said after the bills were debated in both houses (upper and lower) and all sides had spoken, the mover of the bills asked for them to go to the committee stage.
Prior to the bills being in the committee stage, they were before a Joint Select Committee (JSC).
While the committee stage had started for the Tobago bills, it had not been completed.
Tobago's Chief Secretary Farley Augustine questioned the government's "rush" to place the Tobago autonomy bills on Monday's Order Paper, a media report said on Saturday.
Augustine said the only time those bills came to Parliament was before a general election.
He also said the bills should not be rid of but improved upon. The bills required four things to be acceptable to Tobagonians: a federal-type system; clear Tobago boundaries in keeping with international law; equality of status between Trinidad and Tobago; and the right to make every decision over all matters surrounding Tobago and its people, Augustine said.
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Robinson-Regis said section 141 (2) of the Constitution says the SRC report had to be laid in both houses after it was received by the President and Cabinet.
That had been done, she added.
She said she had no idea when the motion would be brought and the government did what the Constitution required.
Robinson-Regis said she was uncertain what accounted for the post.
The Order Paper gives a list of what is to be discussed in parliament on a particular day.
Parliament is expected to sit at 10 am on Monday.
The 120th SRC report has been the subject of widespread public debate and also led to rallies by the trade union.
The Prime Minister’s acceptance of this also amassed much public debate.
The report recommends salary increases for the Prime Minister, President, Chief Justice and Opposition Leader. In a post-Cabinet news briefing on November 28, Dr Rowley said he accepted the SRC’s recommendation for the Office of the Prime Minister. It proposes an increase for the Prime Minister from $59,680 to $87,847.
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Opposition Leader Kamala Persad-Bissessar publicly stated her disapproval of the report and said she would not accept an increase. She also said Rowley deserved a pay cut.
The commission is also recommending:
President's salary to rise from $64,270 to $81,170, from April 1, 2023, an increase of 26 per cent.
Opposition Leader: from $29,590 to $52,159, effective October 1, 2023, a 76 per cent increase.
Cabinet ministers: from $41,030 to $52,159 effective October 1, 2023, an increase of 27 per cent
Non-cabinet-member ministers: from $33,940 to $43,155 respectively, a 27 per cent increase.
Senators (who are not government ministers or parliamentary secretaries): from $13,060 to $17,020, effective October 1, 2023.
MPs who are neither ministers nor parliamentary secretaries: from $17,410 to $22,695, effective October 1, 2023.
A rally was held on December 7 at the Queen’s Park Savannah and union leaders like the Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) president general Ancel Roget called on workers to vote out the government over issues such as this.
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The unions also marched to Rowley’s official residence to deliver a letter of the union’s demands.
That letter demanded the reversal of Cabinet’s decision to accept the SRC’s recommendations, settle outstanding negotiations and reopen all negotiations in which unions accepted four per cent over six years without cola consolidation among other issues, media reports said.
About the Draft Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Order 2024
THE House of Representatives will sit on December 9 from 10 am to debate a motion to approve the Draft Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) Order 2024.
This motion, filed in the name of the Prime Minister on the supplemental order paper, is to approve an EBC report dated March 13, in which the commission reviewed the boundaries of all 41 constituencies.
In accordance with Section 72 (1) of the Constitution, the Prime Minister is required to submit a draft order before the House which will implement the recommendations contained in this report, without modifications.
The report proposed changing the names of five constituencies.
They are Arouca/Maloney to Trincity/Maloney, D’Abadie/O’Meara to Malabar/Mausica, Lopinot/Bon Air West to Arouca/Lopinot, St Joseph to Aranguez/St Joseph and Pointe-a-Pierre to Claxton Bay.
The EBC also proposed boundary changes for 16 constituencies.
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They are Toco/Sangre Grande, Malabar/Mausica, Caroni Central, Cumuto/Manzanilla, Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West, Port of Spain South, San Fernando East, San Fernando West, Claxton Bay, La Horquetta/Talparo, Laventille East/Morvant, Laventille West, Oropouche East, Tabaquite, Arima and Trincity/Maloney.
In the report the EBC said, "In Trinidad and in Tobago, respectively, the electorate in any constituency shall not be more than 110 per cent nor be less than 90 per cent of the total electorate of the island divided by the number of constituencies in that island."
The report said the 1,095,080 population of Trinidad fitting into 39 constituencies would give an average of 28,079 people per constituency, equating to a permissible lower limit of 25,271 (90 per cent) and upper limit of 30,887 (110 per cent). To get the 52,163 residents of Tobago into two constituencies gives a constituency average of 26,082 people, with a permissible lower limit of 23,473 and upper limit of 28,690 people.
Changes to the boundaries of 16 constituencies arose from certain areas having too many or too few residents, based on these 90 per cent lower limits and 110 per cent upper limits.
WITH REPORTING BY CLINT CHAN TACK
