There will not be any staff cuts from the amalgamation of Barbados National Oil Company Limited (BNOC), National Petroleum Corporation (NPC) and Barbados National Terminal Company Limited (BNTCL).
That is according to Minister of Energy Senator Lisa Cummins.
Speaking Wednesday after the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Energy Expo at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, she said the process was in its final stages.
Cummins said when the process started, they looked at the skills in the companies. She said there was a low staff count at BNTCL so “there is nothing there to worry about”.
“There is nothing really to worry about overall, to be frank. But NPC and BNOC, we now know where there is overlapping skills.
“We have a sharing agreement between the two entities so that where there are skills that are missing or a deficit in one entity, we are able to draw on the others.”
Cummins said the amalgamation would be effective on April 1.
Financial challenges
In the Barbados’ Medium-Term
Fiscal Framework 2025/2026 to 2027/2028 and the Mid-Year Review April to September 2024 report, it was stated that some state-owned enterprises continued to face financial challenges, with Government rescuing them with millions of dollars in unbudgeted transfers.
NPC’s arrears stemmed from “liquidity challenges caused by recurring net losses, which were in turn a result of reduced profit margins due to increased liquefied natural gas costs that couldn’t be passed on to customers”.
Government said separately in the Fiscal Framework, that “detailed plans have been drafted for the restructuring of the Transport Board and the National Housing Corporation, and for the amalgamation of the operations of the Rural Development Commission and the Urban Development Commission; NPC and Barbados National Oil Company Ltd”.
(NS)
