KINGSTON, Jamaica, The Jamaica government says it will seek parliamentary approval for a second supplementary estimate for the fiscal year 2022/23 in early December to facilitate the payment of salaries to public-sector workers under the new compensation system by Christmas.
Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. Nigel Clarke, said that the revised estimates would distribute the funds from Finance to each ministry, department, and agency (MDA) for which agreements have been signed.
“We’re working towards ensuring that persons in groups which have signed (agreements) up to last week Friday receive payments of the amounts owed under this new compensation agreement, from 1 April, that those amounts are received in December.
“We will require the support of ministries, departments, and agencies with the supply of information, and we will require the cooperation of Parliament,” Clarke said, adding that so far, 15 unions have signed on to the new compensation package.
The authorities said discussions are continuing with the remaining groups, including the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) and the Jamaica Police Federation.
The new compensation system will be implemented over three years with an effective date of 1 April 2022 and will cost approximately J$120 billion over the period.
Earlier this month, Clarke said that it is the government’s commitment to implement a public sector compensation that is fair, transparent, and sustainable while emphasizing that every public sector worker will be better off financially when the new system is implemented.
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives approved the first supplementary estimates, reflecting a revised budget of J$971 billion (One Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents) from the J$912 billion originally approved for the financial year.
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