DEREK?ALLEYNE’s job as director of the Urban Development Commission (UDC)?is not under threat, and all is well between him and Prime Minister Freundel Stuart.
Alleyne ended speculation that his contract was being terminated by disclosing to the DAILY?NATION that he would manage the commission’s affairs for the next two years.
“I am not under any threat. I am very much the director of UDC,?and my understanding is that it will be for another two years,” he said.
Alleyne made it clear he and Prime Minister Stuart had common goals for the UDC, which was established in 1997 to provide assistance to impoverished Barbadians.
“The Prime Minister and I have discussed my employment, and I am very comfortable with his position and he is comfortable with mine.
“There is no issue that I know of. There are some forces that would like to create an issue but I don’t have any issue. I know that there was speculation when I was overseas that my contract would not be renewed, and the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW)?had nothing else to do with me and I was like a boy without a home,” he said.
Alleyne added that he had received a vote of confidence from the board of the UDC.
“I have had meetings with my board and my Prime Minister, and they have assured me that all is well. I can’t go by people’s impression. I am comfortable.”
Alleyne acknowledged that he has had it tough as UDC boss, having to deal with the demands, “unreasonable in some cases”, by Members of Parliament (MP) to have work done.
“The environment has been trying because you have demand outstripping supply and politicians want to satisfy their constituents, and we don’t always have the resources to meet that demand.
“There will always be pressure to deliver the services that constituents demand from their MPs. That has been the source of my stress.
“Politicians want always to meet the requests of their constituents and therefore as the demands and requests come in, they are looking for someone to fill them and the only one they can turn to in urban Barbados is the UDC,” he added.
Alleyne, a former deputy general secretary of the NUPW, admitted relations were strained between him and the union.
“I asked for an extension of my no-pay leave and I have heard nothing from the NUPW. I have got a letter from the general secretary telling me that I walked off the job, that I abandoned my job.
“That is the most I can say. According to the general secretary, I am no longer employed by the NUPW,” he said.
