Deputy Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM) leader Colm Im­bert has ac­cused the Gov­ern­ment of fir­ing 30,000 Com­mu­ni­ty-Based En­vi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion and En­hance­ment Pro­gramme (CEPEP), Un­em­ploy­ment Re­lief Pro­gramme (URP) and Reaf­foresta­tion work­ers to ac­cu­mu­late the $400 mil­lion to pay pub­lic ser­vants’ back­pay.

Im­bert added that the pub­lic ser­vants’ ten per cent salary hike will on­ly be eight per cent due to in­creased NIS con­tri­bu­tions.

Speak­ing at Wednes­day’s PNM San­gre Grande meet­ing, Im­bert said CEPEP, URP and Reaf­foresta­tion work­ers’ pay­ments would have cost around $650 mil­lion.