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Bermuda Govt paying $11 million to hotel workers

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Government volunteered to pay out $11 million to redundant hotel workers without securing an agreement from the hotel’s owners that the money would be paid back.

Curtis Dickinson, the finance minister, made the admission in the House of Assembly this morning.

More than 700 staff at the Southampton Princess were laid off last month when the hotel shut its doors for an 18-month re-fit.

Hotel owners Gencom said it would meet its legal obligation to pay out redundancies to staff.

But when the payment process was delayed by a month, Government stepped in – insisting that the money would be paid back by Gencom eventually.

This morning Dickinson acknowledged that no written agreement between Government and Gencom had been made.

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Asked by Opposition leader Cole Simons to present the agreement to the House, Dickinson replied: “There is no agreement between the Government of Bermuda and Gencom. There is no agreement between Government of Bermuda and Westend Properties. What does exist is an agreement between the Government of Bermuda and each employee who received redundancy.”

Simons suggested that Government had in effect loaned the funds to individual employees rather than Gencom, and that “the only recourse he has at this time other than going to court is to recover the funds from the employees of Fairmont Southampton”.

Dickinson refused to confirm that.

“All employers have an obligation to provide for their employees in the event of redundancy,” Dickinson said. “That obligation existed before Government stepped in and continues to exist.”

Dickinson told the House of Assembly that the decision to step in on behalf of Gencom came about was was his alone.

“I became aware that there was going to be a delay in making payments to employees,” he said. “Sensing that there was a potential to be a problem, I with my team decided on working to a solution.

“We certainly had some discussions with the owners because we were concerned around their failing to meet the October 23 payment date, and so in the spirit of trying to ensure that employees – who at that point had not been paid – to ensure that they would get their payments by November 20.”

The Minister added that because of the coronavirus pandemic, the infrastructure to make emergency payments to people out of work was already in place.

“In the height of the pandemic the Ministry of Finance set up a team to be positioned to make payments to a number of persons who were unemployed, so the infrastructure, the process, the ability to make payments in a fairly shortly period of time was already available,’ he said. “We took the opportunity to use those capabilities to provide for the people at Westend Properties.” — Source: Royal Gazette

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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL SELECTION)

 

OECS MSME Guarantee Facility Project

Loan No.: IDA-62670, IDA-62660, IDA-62640, IBRD-88830, IDA-62650

Assignment Title: Senior Operating Officer (SOO)

Reference No. KN-ECPCGC-207852-CS-INDV

 

The Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have received financing in the amount of US$10 million equivalent from the World Bank towards the cost of establishing a partial credit guarantee scheme, and they intend to apply part of the proceeds to payments for goods, and consulting services to be procured under this project. 

The consultant will serve as the “Senior Operating Officer (SOO)” for the ECPCGC and should possess extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to Micro, small and medium-sized businesses, knowledge of the internal control processes necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk mitigation procedures. The ideal candidate should possess an Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Accounting, Banking or related field, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in lending, inclusive of MSME lending. The initial employment period will be for two years on a contractual basis. Renewal of the contract will be subject to a performance evaluation at the end of the contractual period. The assignment is expected to begin on September 30th, 2021.  The consultant will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the ECPCGC.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be viewed by following the attached link below. 

 

https://bit.ly/3iVannm

 

The Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECPCGC) now invites eligible “Consultants” to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have:

  • An Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Finance, Banking or related field; and
  • Minimum of 5 years’ experience in MSME lending. Applicants should also have:
  • The ability to design and implement risk management procedures 
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to small and medium-sized businesses
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME banking operations
  • Knowledge of the internal controls necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk management procedures
  • Experience developing and presenting information in public, including responding to questions in real-time
  • Experience lending to MSMEs located in the ECCU
  • Knowledge of marketing and communicating with the MSME sector
  • Ability to draft procedures to be used in a lending operation
  • Familiarity with the mechanics of a loan guarantee program
  • Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills, and
  • Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office suite.

The attention of interested Individual Consultants is drawn to Section III, Paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers July 2016, [revised November 2017] (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Approved Selection Method for Individual Consultants set out in the clause 7.34 of the World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers. 

 

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0800 to 1700 hours:

Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation

Brid Rock, Basseterre,

St. Kitts.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form by e-mail by August 11th, 2021, to [email protected]

 

For further information, please contact:

Carmen Gomez-Trigg                                                            Bernard Thomas

Chief Executive Officer                                                          Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 868-620-8144                                                                  Tel: 869-765-2385

Email: [email protected]                                          [email protected]