Choiseul/Saltibus Constituency Council Appoints Supervisor For The Caretaker Program 2017 -2018

Desmond "Jerry" Calderon at Meeting

The Choiseul Old Boys’ School was the venue for a meeting scheduled by the Choiseul/Saltibus Constituency Council on Wednesday July 26, 2017. Though scheduled to start at 9:00 am - the meeting eventually got underway about 10:05am – did that surprise you? The usual Lucian time in effect.

The purpose of the meeting was to award and renew contracts for the Government's Caretaker Program in the Constituency which is scheduled to start on August 1, 2017.

The meeting was opened by the Mrs Enora Justin, the Village Clerk who welcomed those 30 or so persons present. She gave a brief rundown of what is expected from all caretakers and the importance of doing a neat job and within the specified monthly dates – the 1^st – 15^th. 

She also made mention of a one-time $50 fee  which will be withdrawn from the first wage to take care of insurance for the caretaker in case of liabilities during operations on the road. What however stunned me was the fact she said “If you are found to be negligent the burden is yours.” This needs further clarification.

There appears to be a significant change in the program this year. Whereas the caretakers were expected to work for four straight months, this year they have been mandated to work still for the four months but on an alternative basis – every other month. Therefore their contract starts in August and ends in February 2018.

Following Mrs Justin’s comments the floor was opened for any questions. The main concern by a few members was their inability to get in contact with the works supervisor. Many irate caretakers, though not addressing their concerns directly to Ms Justin could be heard mumbling their displeasure about incidents which they had to undergo during the life of the previous contract period.

Hmmm, did the Council get wind of this and hence the reason for appointing a new supervisor? It surely smells like that. Mr Desmond Calderon aka Jerry is the new supervisor of the program for this period and was welcomed by the caretakers. In his short speech to his team he made his position clear that he is a no-nonsense, easy-going person that he expects everyone to do their duty as stated on their contracts.  He asked that persons "work smarter" feel free to call him Jerry and contact him anytime when faced with issues pertaining to the their work.

                                          Mr Calderon bonds with his Team
Jerry's responsibilities among others, are for ensuring that the each contractor does his/her work as stipulated by the contract terms and in turn report to the Council on the status of work done for payment processing.

Mr Brian Charles, the Council’s Chairman gave a few remarks where he more or less reiterated the Clerk’s statements. Following this the caretakers  were asked to confirm their bank account numbers on the contract and signed the document.