WHILE most San Fernando businesses shuttered its operations to celebrate the Christmas holiday with friends and families yesterday, at least 150 of the City’s “underprivileged” residents were invited to the San Fernando City Hall auditorium, to share a meal and each other’s company despite a wave of economic hardship.

San Fernando Mayor Robert Parris told the Express, on Wednesday, that many of those in attendance were workers formerly employed under the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) and the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP)—programmes that were stalled as a new government assumed office following the April 28 general election.

In June, the incoming United National Congress (UNC) administration cited rampant corruption within programmes such as the CEPEP, resulting in thousands being left without employment.