分类： politics

Trinidad and Tobago’s National Insurance Board (NIBTT) is confronting growing parliamentary scrutiny after confirming it holds more than $50 million in outstanding payments to a digital service vendor working on its flagship Empower digitization initiative, a project designed to overhaul the agency’s outdated service delivery and revenue collection systems.

The details of the unpaid liability were brought to light during a Friday sitting of the Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Finance and Legal Affairs, a parliamentary panel currently conducting a review of NIBTT’s public accessibility, responsiveness, and overall service performance. Committee members have raised pointed questions about the financial sustainability of the $300 million-plus project, which is funded entirely through NIBTT’s existing contribution collections and investment returns, at a time when the agency already faces a gap between incoming contributions and outgoing benefit payouts.

NIBTT leadership has defended the multi-phase transformation effort, arguing that the deep digitization push is non-negotiable for the agency’s long-term functionality. For decades, NIBTT has relied on slow, paper-based and manual processing systems to handle its massive annual workload: roughly 40,000 new claims and 480,000 employer submissions each year. Executive Director Niala Persad-Poliah explained that existing legislation, the NIBTT Act, prohibits the agency from using bond financing to fund capital projects like Empower, forcing the organization to draw on its operating revenue. The first two phases of the project, which launched in 2022 and wrapped up implementation in August 2024, delivered a new human capital management system and an integrated financial platform, laying the groundwork for full operational overhaul.

Persad-Poliah also clarified the discrepancy between the original $164 million project budget and the much higher total spending to date. She noted that the initial budget only covered core hardware and software costs, excluding critical supporting expenses including consultant fees, marketing outreach, and third-party project management services. To date, $143 million in solution implementation costs plus $10.3 million in value-added tax have been paid, with ongoing annual maintenance costs set at $18 million for existing systems, rising to $50 million annually once the full project is complete. The $50.9 million outstanding payment to the lead vendor will be settled once the final phase of work is delivered, and NIBTT management has already submitted a request to its board for additional funding to cover outstanding obligations.

The final phase of the Empower project will focus on rolling out customer-facing digital tools, including an online portal that allows claimants to track their applications in real time and access services remotely, addressing longstanding public complaints about extended processing delays. So far, roughly 1,400 employers have registered for the new portal, and Persad-Poliah has urged more businesses to adopt the digital system to speed up processing. Agency technology leaders report that user acceptance testing (UAT) for the full system is 96% complete, with final end-to-end testing now underway to verify the entire workflow from claim submission to payment disbursement.

Despite the progress, NIBTT acknowledges that thousands of claims remain backlogged, and the full public benefits of the project have yet to take effect. Human Resources Executive Director Isha Khan told the committee that the agency has reassigned existing staff full-time to backlog reduction over the past two years, used acting arrangements to fill vacant roles, and brought on external contract workers to support entry-level operations. Even with these adjustments, staff remain overburdened by the high volume of claims.

JSC Chair Dr. Marlene Attzs, an Independent Senator, echoed committee members’ concerns, pressing NIBTT leadership for clarity on when vulnerable populations, who rely most heavily on NIBTT benefits, will see tangible improvements to service speed and accessibility. NIBTT officials reaffirmed that once fully implemented, the Empower system will dramatically expand access for people with special needs and other vulnerable groups by eliminating the need for in-person visits and reducing processing wait times.

A high-profile public dispute over delayed public servant salaries has broken out in Trinidad and Tobago, with Rural Development and Local Government Minister Khadijah Ameen accusing the Port of Spain City Corporation and its mayor of prioritizing petty political gain over worker stability.

The conflict began last week, when Port of Spain Mayor Chinua Alleyne publicly raised alarm over delayed June paychecks for the city’s monthly-paid municipal employees. Alleyne claimed the central Local Government Ministry had dragged its feet on approving June payroll funding, warning that no financial provision had even been made for salary payments beyond the month of June. He added that City Hall had repeatedly alerted national government officials that the corporation would be unable to meet its payroll obligations, but those warnings were ignored. Just one day after his initial statement, however, Alleyne updated the public via his official Facebook page that the corporation had received a funding cheque — though he clarified the sum still did not cover payroll obligations past June.

Minister Ameen pushed back against Alleyne’s narrative while speaking to reporters at a Venezuela earthquake relief donation drive in Woodbrook earlier this week, laying full blame for the delay at the feet of the city corporation. She explained that following a mandated public service salary increase, ministry officials required updated documentation from all municipal corporations to properly recalculate and audit payroll allocations. Meetings were held with Port of Spain representatives in March and again in April to outline these requirements, but the city failed to submit the necessary paperwork on time.

According to Ameen, the situation moved toward resolution only after the city finally submitted its first set of documents the previous Friday. Ministry staff worked through the weekend to process the submission, but a second round of documents turned in on Sunday contained errors. City officials finalized corrections on Monday, clearing the way for full funding to be disbursed.

Ameen confirmed that the cheque the corporation received covers all salary obligations from the mid-year budget review through the end of the current financial year, meaning all affected monthly-paid workers under the Public Services Association have now received their pay. She noted that daily-paid and contract municipal workers were never impacted by the administrative backlog.

The minister went a step further, accusing Alleyne of seeking cheap political mileage by going public with the dispute before the issue could be resolved internally. She argued that the premature publicity caused unnecessary harm to workers, sharing that one employee contacted her in tears after a local credit union halted approval on her long-awaited loan over unfounded concerns about her job security.

Ameen also pointed to broader administrative frictions with municipal corporations controlled by the opposition People’s National Movement (PNM), claiming petty political posturing often leads PNM-led bodies to avoid routine outreach that would prevent processing delays. She emphasized that she has maintained close coordination with public service unions to protect worker interests, and stressed that no politics will be allowed to jeopardize employee pay or job security. She issued a public assurance to all municipal workers across the country that their salaries are fully secure and all outstanding administrative issues have been resolved.

For more than two months, Trinidad and Tobago has not held a formal post-Cabinet media briefing, sparking widespread debate over government communication practices and transparency standards. The final such briefing was held on May 7, when cabinet ministers addressed reporters on a broad spectrum of pressing public issues, from the high-profile triple homicide in Belmont’s Rifle Hill to regional security coordination following the Shield of the Americas summit, the country’s UN Security Council non-permanent seat bid, new UK visa requirements for Trinidad and Tobago citizens, and bilateral relations with neighboring Venezuela. That session was chaired by Wilfred Nicholas Morris, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister.

In recent interviews, two leading Trinidadian political scientists have offered divergent perspectives on the ongoing hiatus, while agreeing on a core legal point: there is no binding legal mandate requiring the government to host these formal press briefings.

Dr. Bishnu Ragoonath, a prominent political scientist, explained that longstanding constitutional and procedural traditions frame Cabinet deliberations as inherently confidential. Cabinet meeting minutes and discussion notes are legally protected from public disclosure, he noted, and no constitutional clause or statutory law requires ministers to update the public immediately following every Cabinet gathering. Ragoonath added that post-Cabinet briefings emerged in recent decades as a voluntary practice for governments seeking to signal greater openness and align with modern good governance standards, not as a legally required obligation.

While affirming the lack of a legal requirement, Ragoonath emphasized that transparency remains a foundational pillar of legitimate democratic governance. “I have always been one for accountability and transparency. Ethics is dependent upon integrity and accountability and transparency,” he stated. That said, he harshly criticized the current government’s broader communication strategy, arguing it is structurally inadequate and frequently fails to provide necessary context for major policy changes.

Pointing to the recent suspension of the Military-Led Academic Training (MILAT) Programme as a key example, Ragoonath said officials only announced the termination of the program without offering any public explanation for the decision. He later learned through unconfirmed secondary sources that the program carried a price tag of roughly $135,000 per trainee, a cost that reportedly prompted the review. “If those were the facts which caused the review of the programme, come out and say it. Without giving context and without adequate background, one wonders whether or not there is a hidden agenda,” Ragoonath said.

Dr. Indira Rampersad, another respected political scientist, shared Ragoonath’s conclusion that no legal obligation exists for post-Cabinet briefings, but pushed back on the framing that the current government is failing to communicate with the public. She argued that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her cabinet have maintained consistent public outreach through alternative channels, making announcements and responding to reporter questions on all major policy topics. These include the mid-year budget review, national crime reduction initiatives, regional diplomatic affairs, and the country’s successful campaign for a UN Security Council non-permanent seat.

Rampersad noted that the government’s approach is flexible: officials share information when they have updates to deliver, through whatever format works best, rather than adhering to a rigid requirement for a formal post-Cabinet briefing every time. She also pointed to practical logistical reasons that may explain the current hiatus, noting that Cabinet meetings often run well over schedule due to crowded policy agendas, leaving little time for an immediate press briefing.

Further, Rampersad said the public has not been left uninformed, and ministers remain accessible to journalists for questions and comments. She also reminded observers that some matters, including ongoing criminal investigations and sensitive national security issues, cannot reasonably be discussed publicly by cabinet ministers for legal and public safety reasons.

The 51st Regular Meeting of the Conference of Caribbean Community (Caricom) Heads of Government kicked off in St. Lucia on Sunday, but the event opened with an unexpected disruption: logistical complications delayed the arrival of Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, forcing her to miss the official group photograph and stage line-up that has become a longstanding tradition for regional leaders at the summit’s opening.

Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Nicholas Morris, who is part of the Trinidad and Tobago delegation traveling to the summit, confirmed the delay to local outlet Express via a WhatsApp message from St. Lucia. Morris clarified that despite the late arrival, Persad-Bissessar made it to the opening ceremony before outgoing Caricom Chairman Dr. Terrance Drew, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, delivered his keynote address to assembled delegates.

After joining the summit proceedings, Persad-Bissessar shared photographic evidence of her participation on her official social media channels, showing her alongside other members of the Trinidad and Tobago delegation during meeting sessions. While the prime minister attends the summit in St. Lucia, Works and Infrastructure Minister Jearlean John has been tapped to serve as acting prime minister back in Port of Spain, a role she has filled previously during Persad-Bissessar’s travel. The Trinidad and Tobago delegation departed the country on Sunday with a roster of senior officials, including Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers, Cabinet Ministers Nicholas Morris and Darrell Allahar, and Head of the Foreign Service Randall Karim.

The logistical hiccup comes amid preexisting tensions between the Persad-Bissessar administration and Caricom leadership, most notably over the planned reappointment of current Caricom Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett. Last week, Persad-Bissessar publicly reaffirmed Trinidad and Tobago’s long-held opposition to Barnett’s reappointment, stating that her government will refuse to recognize Barnett once her current term expires this August. The prime minister has repeatedly argued that the process used to approve Barnett’s reappointment violates the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and Caricom’s official governance protocols.

Despite the standoff, Barnett opened the summit on Sunday evening by outlining the bloc’s key priorities for the coming days. She told regional leaders that core discussions would center on advancing the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), including a planned rollout of full free movement of people across four member states set to launch in October 2025. Additional key agenda items include expanding regional food security frameworks, building collective climate resilience across vulnerable island nations, and expanding governance and stability support for crisis-stricken Haiti. Barnett also used her opening remarks to announce two major expansions of the bloc: Martinique has officially joined the summit as an associate member, while French Guiana is expected to formalize its own accession agreement during the course of the summit.

This is not the first time Persad-Bissessar has publicly clashed with Caricom leadership. During the 50th Regular Meeting of Caricom Heads of Government held in St. Kitts and Nevis this past February, then-opposition leader Persad-Bissessar delivered a speech that openly criticized the Caricom Secretariat for its failure to respond to the 2022 abduction of Trinidad and Tobago national Brent Thomas from Barbados, calling the incident deeply unsettling and noting that she had never received a response to a formal letter she sent to the Secretariat requesting answers. Barnett was in the audience for the critical remarks.

Last year, Persad-Bissessara again broke with the bloc when she openly voiced support for United States lethal airstrikes targeting alleged drug traffickers operating in the Caribbean, a position that directly contradicted Caricom’s longstanding formal commitment to preserving the region as a Zone of Peace. She also previously accused Caricom of being an unreliable partner after the bloc remained silent when the former Maduro administration in Venezuela issued territorial threats against Trinidad and Tobago.