The employment opportunities in the expanded programme will be increased from 495 jobs to 800, Health and Social Services Secretary Claudia Groome-Duke disclosed at the post Executive Council media briefing. She said the Executive Council on Wednesday approved the immediate reorganisation of the programme to a chief added efficiency and at the same time expand it to all communities in Tobago.
She explained that the Council looked at some areas of the programme to ensure its success through rebranding of the programme such that it would always display the Tobago rootedness, the geographic coverage to ensure that all the communities were adequately and routinely served.
Groome-Duke said the Assembly was inculcating the four “Rs” – reduce, reuse, recycle and recover in the Tobago scenario with a zero waste policy in keeping with the wider commitment of the Assembly’s mantra of clean, green, and serene.
The Assembly received $4 million six weeks ago, the first release in two years from the People’s Partnership Central Government to fund CEPEP.
At the time Chief Secretary Orville London said this was an extremely significant development because last year money was approved by Parliament but not released. This year the Parliament approved $8 million.
London said the THA was appreciative of the $4 million and if it got the other $4 million or not it will not allow the Assembly to pay or fund all its expenses in relationship to the CEPEP or the URP. He added that in the case of the CEPEP there would be a shortfall of between $8 million to $10 million and also a significant shortfall in relationship to the URP, but the point about it was that some funding has been given.