Chief executive officer of the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation Sonja Trotman released the following statement on the recent restructuring of the organisation.
At the BIDC, we have undertaken a review of our operations and we have concluded that a more potent strategy and a sharper focus are required if we are to maximize our value, and make a significant change in our functions and in our efforts to increase our contribution to the economic development of Barbados.
We have therefore undertaken to refresh our operational design for greater efficiency and sustainability through more streamlined operations.
Change is never easy. But the time has come to move the BIDC forward aggressively with increased focus and accountability. In support of this objective therefore, the board of directors during its meeting of May 20, 2015, effected some changes to staffing.
The Information Technology (IT) Unit will be restructured to make our core platforms, systems and resources a genuine strength. In addition, the Board of Directors made a decision to invoke its right under Section 8 of the Statutory Boards (Pensions) Act Cap. 384 to retire officers who would have reached the age of sixty (60) years.
As a result of the restructuring of the IT Unit, two (2) positions were made redundant effective May 27, 2015 and two (2) employees were affected. The Board’s execution of the right to retire employees effected the retirement of ten (10) persons, effective September 30, 2015.
Section 8 of the Statutory Boards (Pensions) Act Cap. 384 provides, inter alia:
[1.] “A Board may require an officer in its service to retire at any time after he attains the age of 60 years.
[2.] Retirement shall be compulsory for every officer to whom this Act applies on attaining the age of 65 years.”
The effect of Section 8 (1) of the Act gives the Board a right to retire its officers at the age of sixty (60) years.
The effect of Section 8 (2) of the Act provides that where an officer is not retired at any time after he attains the age of sixty (60) years, the compulsory age of retirement for that officer would be at the age of sixty-five (65) years.
The 2004 amendments to the Pensions Act and the Statutory Boards (Pensions) Act which took effect on January 1, 2005 provided for the enlargement of the compulsory age of retirement which is set out in Section 8 (2) of the Statutory Boards (Pensions) Act and Section 13D of the Pensions Act.
However, Section 8 (1) of the Statutory Boards (Pensions) Act remained unchanged by the Amendment. Additionally, the 2004 amendment superseded an option which might have been exercised by public officers under the Pensions Act. It should be noted that options relating to retirement are governed under Sections 8 and 13A of the Pensions Act for public officers and under section 10 of the Statutory Board Pensions Act for officers of the BIDC (a Statutory Board). The amendments in question related to enlarging the age beyond which an officer will not be allowed to work and references an option which could no longer be exercised by public officers. The amendments did not relate to the power which could be exercised by a statutory board under Section 8 (1).
The above sections directly respond to the Union’s concerns relating to the referred memo. It must be noted that the BIDC is not governed by the Pensions Act Cap. 25 and only those areas relating specifically to the Statutory Boards (Pensions) Act Cap. 384 govern the BIDC’s action.
The outcome of these changes being undertaken will be a smaller, nimbler, organisation; better equipped to innovate, propel its work forward and offer the response our industry portfolio now urgently requires. We are intensifying our efforts by focusing on our core business and redeploying resources to our most urgent priorities. Our goal is to re-focus on our core purpose of enhancing the capacity of businesses to take advantage of emerging market opportunities, locally and internationally, and we are moving aggressively to achieve such.
Reaching that goal requires the tough decision to eliminate jobs, which means losing colleagues and parting with friends. Yesterday, we began the process of transitioning persons towards retirement. We value all of our staff and for those who will be leaving, we express our appreciation for their dedicated and loyal service and for their ongoing contribution to the development of the corporation over the years. We will be providing resources to help them through their transition.
The BIDC is a resilient organisation with exceptionally talented people and we will all do our best to encourage each other through this difficult period of transition.
