Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein has refuted a newspaper report, published earlier this week, which claimed that two thirds of CEPEP workers have been terminated from their jobs.

Minister Hosein told Tuesday’s sitting of the Senate that some workers in the “eastern area of the country” were  “temporarily displaced”.

“Recently, Madame President, three contractor teams compromising of 30 workers each were reduced to 10. This does not include the whole of CEPEP. This resulted in 60 employees being temporarily displaced… we expect , as this happens within CEPEP from time to time. All 60 workers will be reintegrated into the program,” Hosein read in response to a question from Opposition Senator Wade Mark.

He was then asked by Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial to detail the reasoning behind the decision.

“Following an assessment, it was decided to redeploy workers to achieve equity across the environmental work areas. As stated before, workers will be reintegrated to the program,” he responded.