30 Town Board staffers to go home

Some 30 members of staff of the Kingstown Town Board (KTB) will soon be handed their pink slips as measures are put in place to rescue the financially strapped organization. Some of the workers will continue however, in their substantive posts until they can be accommodated at other institutions that have vacancies.

The KTB, which falls under the portfolio of Minister Mike Browne, employs some 133 persons and currently operates with a bank overdraft of $4 million.{{more}}

At a press conference on Tuesday, Minister Browne explained that “bringing down the staffing cost and collecting revenues” were some of the actions his ministry will be implementing to clean up the KTB.

With the Town Board short of some $70,000 owed by shop owners, Minister Browne urged tenants of the KTB to pay up their debt.

“I want to appeal to the shop operators to pay up their fees. we are heavily indebted to the National Commercial Bank and it is important for shop operators to play their part… by the end of this month we are asking these operators to make arrangements with Town Board to make some form of payments,” Browne pleaded.

According to Warden, Carl Williams, in order to save the KTB there must be job cuts at the “heavily overstaffed” institution.

“For us to save the Town Board we have to cut staff. We have met with the Commercial Allied and Technical Workers Union and agreed on the names of the persons who would be made redundant,” Williams said.

While shop operators are holding out on payments to the KTB, the problem with illegal vending seems to be spreading on the streets of Kingstown.

“There is very little we can do with regard to the illegal vending situation… we do not have the resources to deal with this problem, it is bigger than the Town Board,” Williams explained.

While Minister Browne acknowledged that his ministry would be working closely with the vendors to address their issues, he is urging street vendors to use the proper mechanisms through the KTB to conduct their vending.

According to the minister, a meeting proposed for May 23 with illegal vendors and representatives from his ministry will seek to address their concerns.