By SANCHESKA DORSETT

Tribune Staff Reporter

sdorsett@tribunemedia.net

CABINET will meet today and is expected to discuss whether the Free National Movement government will honour a promise made by former Prime Minister Perry Christie to pay overtime to Royal Bahamas Police Force officers at the end of the month, according to Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest.

In an interview with The Tribune, Mr Turnquest, who is also the minister of finance, said the matter is a priority for Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis but because of the “state of the economy” it is something that has to be discussed thoroughly.

At a rally on April 27, days before officers voted in the May 3 advanced poll, Mr Christie announced that the government will finally pay RBPF officers for working 12-hour shifts, with the first payment of the outstanding sum to be issued on May 29.

He said the second instalment in overtime pay would come “in the next budget cycle,” but Mr Christie was not more specific. He said officers who have died or are retired will be paid in full.

However, the PLP lost the general election to the FNM on May 10.

“We are discussing this tomorrow (Tuesday) in Cabinet, it is top of the things we have to talk about because we understand the urgency of it and we know that people depend on that money,” Mr Turnquest said.

“The former administration promised it and we will make it a priority item. At the moment I am reluctant to say what we will do at this moment. Having said that the prime minister did say he will honour the commitment and we will push him to do that. Some things will have to wait and be put on hold but when it comes to human resources you do not want to hold on to things people depend on. We will know after the meeting tomorrow (today).”

Prime Minister Minnis, speaking during a rally in the Central and South Eleuthera constituency earlier this month, said his party, if it won the election, would honour a court ruling and pay officers their overtime payments. In opposition at the time, Dr Minnis went on to suggest that in a last-ditch effort to win over the support of the law enforcement agencies, Mr Christie made the promise to pay on May 29 – after the general election.

Earlier this month, former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham told FNM supporters at a rally that no matter which party won the election, the government would be unable to pay police officers overtime on May 29 because the money was not in the Public Treasury.

Last May, the Court of Appeal upheld a landmark Supreme Court ruling ordering the government to compensate police officers for working 12-hour shifts at different periods in 2013 and 2014. The RBPF introduced 12-hour work shifts for officers in an attempt to get crime under control in September 2013.

The appellate court had dismissed the government’s appeal against Supreme Court Justice Milton Evans’ ruling that a Force Order issued by former Police Commissioner Paul Farquharson in 2003 was relevant to the case as it mandated that public officers be paid when they work for more than 40 hours in a normal working week.

At the time, the PSA had estimated that if the choice is made to pay the officers, the government could end up paying as much as $16.4m in overtime pay. However, attorney Wayne Munroe, QC, who represents the PSA, said at the time that Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade would determine whether to pay officers or to give them a proportionate amount of time off.

The Supreme Court ordered that the compensation be received within a year.