Caption: Khadijah Ameen. Photo: T&T Parliament

Summary

• Cabinet has approved $5,363,520 for a one-month Carnival phase of the Upkeep of Public Spaces Programme, running Feb 2–28.
• More than 1,000 short-term contracted workers will be hired and deployed in 86 teams of 12 across municipal corporations.
• Rural Development and Local Government Minister Khadijah Ameen says worker productivity—new and existing—is now under closer scrutiny.
• The Carnival phase builds on a pilot project launched Dec 15 (ending Mar 15) and follows creation of an unemployment fund after the Unemployment Relief Programme was disbanded.
• Cleanup has begun at key sites including Tyrico Beach and venues for stickfighting, calypso and recreational activities, with NCC coordination extending beyond major cities into rural areas.

 

By Prior Beharry

THE Government is set to spend just over $5 million to hire short-term contracted workers under the Upkeep of Public Spaces Programme as preparations ramp up for Carnival 2026, with the productivity of municipal workers now under closer review.

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen announced the funding during yesterday’s post-Cabinet media conference, saying the special Carnival phase of the national upkeep programme began on February 2 and will run until February 28.

Ameen said Cabinet approved $5,363,520 for the one-month initiative, which will employ more than 1,000 workers on short-term contracts. The workforce will be organised into 86 teams of 12 and assigned across municipal corporations for four-week deployments.

While the ministry will assess whether the programme should continue beyond Carnival, Ameen said Government is also confronting long-standing concerns about productivity within municipal corporations.

“Because there are people who need employment, there is a need for more workers on the ground. But there is also an issue of productivity with the current workers in the municipal corporations that every single municipal corporation faces. We’ll continue to talk to the unions about productivity while we work with these temporary workers,” she said.

Ameen said the Carnival project builds on a pilot initiative launched on December 15 and scheduled to end on March 15, which she said has helped identify weaknesses and guide proposed improvements. Following the disbandment of the Unemployment Relief Programme last year, she said an unemployment fund was created within the Ministry of Finance to channel resources to municipal corporations to strengthen their workforce.

“The pilot project has allowed us to work out some administrative kinks, make recommendations for improvement, and we have had meetings with all 14 municipalities for them to make recommendations, which will go back to Cabinet,” Ameen said.

She added that while hiring temporary workers for Carnival is not new, this year’s workers are being hired directly by her ministry and then assigned to municipal corporations—an approach she said will reduce costs for local authorities.

Ameen confirmed that councillors, aldermen and Members of Parliament recommended individuals for employment, but said expectations are high and performance is being closely monitored.

“One of the things we have observed is that these new workers are very productive, and the issue of productivity for all municipal corporations is under a bit of a microscope now. This is an opportunity for all of them to prove themselves,” she said.

The temporary teams will focus on cleaning and maintaining locations used for Carnival activities, including parade routes, beaches, recreational grounds and venues for non-masquerading events such as youth and religious camps.

Ameen said she met with all 14 regional corporations to assess needs and also held talks with the National Carnival Commission (NCC) and the Ministry of Culture. She noted the NCC has 18 regional representatives who will work with corresponding corporations to support Carnival activities not only in Port-of-Spain, San Fernando and Chaguanas, but across rural and regional communities.

She said worker allocations were based on each corporation’s requests, with numbers adjusted where additional gaps were identified.

“In fact, when I met with some of those corporations, they requested a specific number of employees. In some cases, we identified other needs they had not considered, and therefore we increased the number based on what they had originally requested,” Ameen said.

An operations manager has been appointed as a liaison among the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Culture, the NCC and municipal corporations, she added.

Ameen also confirmed that cleanup work has already begun, citing Tyrico Beach and maintenance at sites used for stickfighting and calypso competitions, as well as recreational grounds, under the direction of regional corporations.