By JADE RUSSELL
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
THE chief councillor for San Salvador said employees of the island’s district council have been without pay for two months, adding it has left them “handicapped” this Christmas season.
“The employees of the district council in November and December have not received their payments. Also, as you are aware this is the Christmas season, and everyone needs their money,” Rennard Storr, chief councillor for San Salvador, said.
“So now the district of San Salvador has been handicapped because we need to do some Christmas things. We normally have an annual Christmas tree lighting, also we normally have a give-back for the kids. But everything is centred around money,” Mr Storr told The Tribune.
Mr Storr said that in September, San Salvador got a new island administrator but has not been able to access funds due to some red tape.
“We need her (the administrator) to be regularised so that we can have work done in San Salvador. And with that, I believe that we will be back on the road to success. We have been going over and beyond the call of duty for our people of San Salvador,” he said.
Mr Storr said that few people would want to work and not be compensated. He added that the district council deals with road cleaning, garbage collection, and the overall maintenance of the island.
“We don’t want to be putting our hands in our pockets to get stuff done. So, the answer would be to get the island administrator regularised, and then we will be on the roll again,” he said.
He pointed out that the government has made significant strides on the island such as the re-opening of the Club Med resort in October. The return of the island’s main economic driver and employer was expected to create 300 direct jobs for Bahamians and create total employment for up to 350 persons.
However, he said, there are still some issues on the island that need to be addressed such as the phone service.
The island is represented by Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis.
“The other issue would have been BTC. We need a technician who will definitely take care of it when we have phones and stuff breaking down,” he said.
“We need a technician on the island of San Salvador, especially in the area from Hall’s Landing to Sugarloaf, they can only use cell phones. But when a person’s phone breaks down, there is no technician here for a while.”
He also said: “So we need to be able to communicate on a daily basis. Even children and everything who uses the internet daily.
“Our guests who go to certain locations need to be able to have access to the phone.”
Mr Storr also noted roadwork on the island is needed as well.
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