Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis said yesterday that the government hiring more people in the Bahamas Electricity Corporation (BEC) simply to deal with overtime issues plaguing the government-run corporation is not a solution.
In fact, during a press conference at the Free National Movement (FNM) headquarters Dr. Minnis said that overtime at a number of government agencies should be looked at.
“I am also concerned about with what the prime minister said about BEC. The prime minister said that it makes good sense to hire more staff. I remind the prime minister that [the Ministry of] Health has a slew of overtime. If he looks at social services there is a slew of overtime, when you look at education, there is a slew of overtime. Is the prime minister’s remedy for overtime is just increased employment? Who is analysing the situation of why there is overtime as opposed to determining when individuals are properly trained for what they are doing,” he said.
“If you take the prime minister’s solution, the prime minister is ignoring Moody’s report, is not taking any precautious measures, not prepared to take any and is prepared to send this country down a slippery path to financial disaster. We just debated a Pension Bill where it was determined that if this is not corrected The Bahamas is headed for serious financial complication 10 to 20 years down the road.”
Dr. Minnis said Prime Minister Perry Christie should fix this situation for the future.
“What will happen is with all the baby boomers coming of age, he wants to destroy the system with more hiring, what will happen is with all these baby boomers coming of age your pension bill will increase, the consolidated payment will increase, social services will increase and the monies allotted for national security will decrease,” he said.
“I say to the prime minister don’t sit on your head use it.”
Earlier this week, an internal audit revealed that BEC paid out $11.8 million in overtime pay last year.
The total amount of workers receiving overtime pay was 876, according to the report.
The report also indicates that in some instances the take home was more than $100,000 when added to the basic pay.
BEC Chairman Leslie Miller said come next month, those workers will begin a roster shift system to cut back on the overtime payouts.
He has also said that he plans for police to prosecute persons accused of abusing the overtime system.