Prime Minister of St. Kitts announces salary increase for public servants
Struggling Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris announced a 10 per cent pay rise for public sector workers on Monday, benefiting more than 9,000 workers in the Twin Islands Federation.
“I am pleased to announce that my government has determined that our civil servants, retirees and STEP workers will receive a significant increase in wages, salaries and pensions at the rate of ten percent and this will be retroactive to January 2022,” Harris said. in a broadcast marking Labor Day here.
“This is another clear example of our investment in our people as we put more money in the pockets of many of our citizens and residents. These resources will result in an increase in the purchasing power of approximately 4,000 salaried civil servants, 1,064 state auxiliaries, 1,365 pensioners and 2,800 STEP workers,” he added.
Harris, who faces a vote of no confidence after several members of his Team Unity coalition tabled necessary paperwork in parliament last week, said workers engaged in the Skills Training Empowerment Program (STEP) are closer to becoming auxiliary government workers who would enjoy greater job security.
He said the regularization process will continue over the next few months.
“The Select Committee and the Human Resources Management Department have completed the necessary work to facilitate the integration of the first group of STEP workers into the civil service as state auxiliaries. Over the past two weeks, hundreds of people have received letters offering permanent government jobs.
Harris described other measures that have been implemented by his government to cushion the impact of the sharp rise in the cost of living, including the reduction of the excise tax on the import of fuel from 2 .25 EC$ (one European dollar = 0.37 USD) per gallon. at 0.95 EC$ cents per gallon from April to September of this year.
He added that the government had also granted an increase in the margin for service station distributors of 0.30 euro cents and that the fuel subsidy program would be extended for another six months.
Income and disability support programs have been extended for another three months and will target people who remain unemployed due to job loss due to the pandemic, and those whose incomes have been significantly reduced.
The government said the duty-free status usually allowed in December has been reintroduced from May 1 to September 30, and households will be able to import 500 pounds of groceries duty and tax free.
The government will introduce an eight-month cap on the cost of freight used in the calculation of duties and taxes paid on the importation of goods.
“This cap will help to moderate the price increase due to the increased cost of freight. Let me take this opportunity to express very clearly the strong expectation of this government that all suppliers must pass on the benefits of this concession on consumers facing rising prices,” Harris said in her Labor Day post.
CMC/
