The office of the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO) is hoping to meet with the Public Services Association (PSA) this week to discuss the operationalisation of the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority (TTRA).
Speaking with Guardian Media yesterday, CPO Dr Daryl Dindial, who is currently on vacation, said the acting CPO met with officials from the Ministry of Finance on Sunday, in preparation for this week’s discussions.
Last week, Dindial wrote to PSA president Leroy Baptiste asking for a meeting at his convenience sometime this week. The invitation for talks came after Baptiste raised concerns on behalf of his members at the Board and Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise Division.
The public servants had until July 31 to indicate whether they would like to move over to the TTRA, retire, or transfer to another public institution.
Baptiste said his members have questions about the move to the TTRA, which included compensation and the details of the Voluntary Separation Package, should they choose that option.
The Privy Council is expected to rule on the legality of combining both the Board of Inland Revenue and the Customs and Excise Division to create the TTRA in September.
Days before the deadline, acting Finance Minister Allyson West said 60 per cent of some 1,200 workers had not yet submitted their response and of the remaining 40 per cent, the majority agreed to join the TTRA.
Giving an update yesterday, Minister West said there was a rush as the deadline neared and the final tally is still being compiled.
Dindial hopes that the final numbers will be made available in time for the meeting with the PSA, which is yet to confirm the proposed date.
Calls and messages to Baptiste and the PSA’s first vice president Felisha Thomas went unanswered yesterday.