The union representing employees of the Licensing Office in Port-of-Spain says they will continue to work half-day only, until the Transport Ministry presents a structural engineer’s report attesting to the integrity of the building they occupy. In a telephone interview yesterday, president of the Public Services Association (PSA) Watson Duke said the action taken last year would continue for the foreseeable future.
However, he has warned that if the ministry failed to present a report soon, protest action could be intensified. In response, Transport Minister Stephen Cadiz said the PSA’s request for a copy of the building’s foundation drawings was proving to be a challenge for the ministry. He said records for the building, which was constructed in 1951, were “proving not very easy to get.” Cadiz admitted that the “situation” with the PSA continued, the effects of which the public was feeling.
In response to the union’s demands, he said, “We have done all that we can do right now. We have done major renovations to the building.” The renovations include the erection of a new steel roof over the main building, rewiring of the electrical system, installation of new air-conditioning units, and the introduction of a new computerised system and modern fire alarm system.
Insisting that the PSA was disregarding the ministry’s efforts to improve the working conditions of staff, Cadiz said, “Mr Duke is playing hardball with us and until they get what they want, they are claiming the building is not safe.” The ministry had done a complete overhaul of the physical infrastructure, Cadiz said, as well as complied with building code regulations by obtaining certificates from agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Unit, the Fire Services and the electrical inspectorate.
“There is no other agency for us to go to for approval,” Cadiz said, adding that they had obtained the necessary approvals deeming the building safe to occupy. Turning the tables on Duke, Cadiz questioned if the same thing could be said for the PSA’s head office on Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain.
Again referring to the “ridiculous situation,” Cadiz said his ministry had taken steps to improve the level of service to the public at the Licensing Office in Port-of-Spain. He said, “While it still is not where it is supposed to be as we are still trying to achieve same-day service, we have been able to provide customers with an improved service.”
Duke, on the other hand, accused Cadiz of being less than honest and said a critical aspect of the building’s safety was its structural integrity, which he believed had been compromised. “A critical aspect of working there is the structural integrity and we have requested an independent structural engineer’s report as we have good reason to believe that the building has been further compromised by the addition of a cow shed over the building,” Duke said.
The cow shed Duke referred to is the new steel roof which was erected over the main building. He added that the concrete was flaking and falling off the walls in some areas, and that only a “solid report” could ensure that operations returned to normal. Duke said workers were still providing a service to the public and in the interest of the country by working half-day.
Anna-Lisa Paul
President of the Foreign-Used Car Dealers Association Visham Babwah said while the Government and the PSA continued to wrangle, his members were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Asking why it was taking so long to ensure the Licensing Office was OSH compliant, Babwah suggested that an alternative location be found if the ministry was unable to satisfy the union’s demands.
Babway said the delays were “keeping back production,” and simple transactions such as the registration of a new vehicle—which would normally take a maximum of three days to complete—were now taking as many as three weeks. This, he said, was additional time and money that members could ill afford as rent charges and employee payments were increasing daily.
Unable to say exactly how many vehicle registration, transfers and other transactions had been deferred as a result of the protest action, Babwah estimated that this figure could “have been as much as by half.” He said attempts by his organisation to get those figures from Licensing officials had been futile.
The completion date for the Motor Vehicles Authority in Caroni had again been pushed back, Babwah said, but he hoped that despite falling energy prices and moves to curb spending the new facility would be ready this year. The completion date was last given as May 2014. Babwah’s organisation represents over 100 foreign used-car dealers.