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Teachers will be Paid – Holness

April 7, 2010

The Full Story

Education Minister, Hon. Andrew Holness has assured teachers that they will be paid retroactive money owed to them by the Government.
He was addressing the opening of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) Education Conference 2010 yesterday (April 6) at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort in Ocho Rios.
The Government owes the teachers $8 billion in retroactive payments and last year, made a commitment to pay $4 billion in two equal tranches in May and July this year, with the remaining $4 billion to be paid in the years 2011 and 2012.
“The situation, as it stands now, is that the Government’s revenue targets and our projections when we made that commitment does not hold, and therefore, I have to now manage your expectations of what is possible,” Minister Holness told the teachers.
He assured however that the “Government’s commitment to pay still stands” but the issue at hand is how and when the sum would be paid as well as how much would be paid out.
He said that a pool of funds has been identified within the budget but the
challenge that the Government faces is how to allocate the pool among all the competing public sector parties.
“We plan to bring together all the unions to sit down and have a discussion as to how the pool can be divided,” the Minister informed.

Last Updated: August 16, 2013

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