MINISTER of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen has accused the Port of Spain City Corporation of playing “petty politics” after the mayor raised concerns over delayed June salaries for monthly paid employees, insisting an investigation found the corporation failed to submit the required documents on time.

Last week, Port of Spain Mayor Chinua Alleyne expressed concern that the Local Government Ministry had only recently approved funding for June’s payroll, resulting in delays to June salaries, and that no provision had been made for salaries beyond June. He said City Hall had repeatedly warned the Government that it would run out of funds to meet payroll, but those warnings went unanswered. A day later, however, Alleyne stated on his Facebook page that the corporation had received a cheque, while noting that the payment did not cover salaries beyond June.

Responding to questions from reporters yesterday at a Venezuela earthquake relief collection point in Woodbrook, Ameen disputed the mayor’s account.