Opposition Senator Defends Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority Legislation

OPPOSITION SENATOR Vishnu Dhanpaul has insisted that the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA) would not have been an anti-worker structure and said yesterday that, in helping form the legislation, he had sought to protect fellow public servants.

In his Senate contribution, Dhanpaul disagreed with any sentiment that the TTRA went against workers and their rights.

He recalled his former position as permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance and that he had worked with that ministry from 1991.

During that time, he worked with several governments and said he has been involved in some version of the TTRA since 2002.

Dhanpaul, who was briefly finance minister under the administration of former prime minister Stuart Young earlier this year, said he was being paid to be an effective Opposition member by the taxpayers of T&T.

Dhanpaul asserted that the TTRA exercise has been one of absolute frustration, of yes TTRA and no TTRA, as well as he said, she said with changing administrations.

He said several commentators have expressed the view that the TTRA was anti-worker and against the Public Services Association (PSA).

Dhanpaul said he was a public servant and one-time member of the PSA, with colleagues in the Customs and Excise Division as well as the Board of Inland Revenue.

He said the TTRA was about revenue collections, and that with no apology, he had looked after the welfare of his colleagues.

Dhanpaul recalled the Cabinet appointment of a team to consult with labour and other stakeholders on the TTRA structure and employees rights and benefits, including those who may have opted for a voluntary separation package (VSEP).

He said Labour Minister Leroy Baptiste would have been part of the discussions then, as well as then-PSA president Watson Duke and the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO). Dhanpaul also produced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) from those discussions but which was not signed. He was later criticised by Baptiste for bringing an unsigned MoU to the Upper House.

Dhanpaul noted conditions outlined in the establishment of the TTRA, including that existing public servants in the relevant agencies be given first preference for employment in the new entity, and enhanced training for staff. Workers would also have had the right to request transfers to similar positions or into other ministries, he said.

Dhanpaul said the VSEP packages of some workers would have amounted to six and seven figures, after which they would have still be able to reapply for their jobs.

Calling the conditions a win-win, Dhanpaul said there were specialist positions, such as Customs officers, that Government would not have been to hire off the street to fill. Workers would also have had mechanisms for redress with the VSEP arrangement, he said. He said as a former PS and to be honest with myself, this was our best opportunity at this time to establish the TTRA.