CEPEP Contractors’ Non-Compliance Exposed

In July 2017, a Cabinet Note was issued that did not authorize the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) to renew all its contracts. Instead, it spoke to termination and the introduction of new contractors to maintain the efficacy of CEPEP and its primary aim of environmental protection and enhancement. At that time, the CEPEP Company had advised that 260 contractors were deployed across the country, employing 1,130 work gangs of ten people each. The note also revealed that 56 of these contractors were non-compliant with their statutory obligations to pay National Insurance Scheme (NIS), among other things, while 54 contractors were on month-to-month contracts that could be terminated with the appropriate notice.