Barbuda construction workers dissatisfied with NODS payment

Construction workers engaged in the post hurricane rebuilding efforts in Barbuda are appealing to the relevant authorities to pay at least half of the money owed to them or they will discontinue their involvement in the reconstruction exercise.
 One of the workers told OBSERVER media that the money paid to construction workers last month is nowhere near what is owed to them.
He said he received approximately $20,000 to $30,000 from the National Office of Disaster Services, (NODS) about a week and a half ago.
 “We have been doing weeks of work from last year December,” he lamented, indicating that perhaps more than $70,000 is owed to each contractor who has workers to pay.
The worker said that labourers continue to work because of their compassion for Barbuda and other reasons but insisted that they can’t continue to work without pay.
He added that communication from the responsible authorities has been lacking. “My company does the most work in Barbuda and hires the most local Barbudans to work,” he said.
“We’re doing our best and the quality of work is one of the best. We stand for proper work and work efficiently. Everyone is coming to us to rebuild their place but we can’t build on hungry belly,” he said.
He stated that the company is using its own funds to purchase a lot of the materials being used.
 “We need to eat to survive so we ‘re going to need to get some more money in order to continue for the next month.”
Contractors had stopped working for some time last month. In February workers had reported that they had not been paid anything by NODS since September when operations started. They are now stating that the pay received last month after such a long time without pay is highly insufficient.
The labourers are made up of Antiguan and Barbudan contractors from several construction companies.