All contractors under the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) were handed termination letters on June 27 at the company's head office on Factory Road in Ste Madeleine – effective immediately.

The decision has left an estimated 360 contractors and more than 10,500 workers without employment, sparking concerns of mass unemployment, legal action and political victimisation.

According to contractors, many of their workers were in tears upon learning of their termination, which they initially received via social media.