Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott is investigating claims that two Government foremen earned six-figure incomes in 2001.

The workers at the Water Works department earned well over $100,000 in 2001 - more than the earnings of the Department's Permanent Secretary and at least double their wages - according to a disgruntled caller to Everest DaCosta's radio talk show last week.

The caller also complained that the department had one of the foremen was an electrician who had been promoted to supervise plumbers.

Mr. Scott told The Royal Gazette he is keeping an open mind on the issue and has already met with some workers to discuss their concerns.

Government imposed a ban on unnecessary overtime after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

"I have sat down and had a meeting with several employees of the Water Works department who are disgruntled about several issues and overtime is one of the issues," Mr. Scott said.

"As a consequence I have had discussions with my acting Permanent Secretary. He in turn, in my presence, because some of their grievances touch upon their union relationship, has gotten in touch with their union shop steward."

The Royal Gazette understands that one of the high earners is, in fact, the shop steward.

Mr. Scott added that he would not, as Minister, normally involve himself in such matters.

"However this is a case where I have lent my services. We work hard to establish good working relations and industrial relations and if there are individuals raising matters such as these I believe I should assist."

He said he had so far only spoken to the disgruntled workers but the issue was quite complex.

"The remedy is going to be multifaceted and will require the assistance of the personnel department and I shall seek the views of organised labour. These men are union members and they do make a point that warrants a response from union representatives. I have promised the workers that I shall use all my energies to seek as best as possible some resolution. That's about where we are."

He added: "We have at least three parties involved - the management group - they have expressed views about union representation. And it's fair to say the management may have views about their (workers') performance also... I'm inclined to believe the union has reservations about the men involved. So you can see it's quite a challenging industrial mix but I think it can be resolved."

Asked if he was concerned at the amount of overtime the men had accumulated he said that the overtime could well be legitimate.

"Anything taken out of context can give an illusion but if the overtime is for some of the legitimate activity that I have had explained to me, then it is understandable."

The Minister added the workers were not alleging corruption or that funds were being squandered but were concerned that the overtime should be more evenly spread.

He said he would be looking into whether the overtime was warranted and "if the individuals that are doing it are the only ones who can do it or whether there is a fairer way of allocating the overtime".

He said much of the overtime was for monitoring the department's metres, which needed a certain level of technical expertise.

"It would appear that to carry out all of the work there is a necessity for overtime but you have to be qualified to carry out the work. So you may be a plumber but not have the expertise to read the metres and make a judgment," he continued.

"If the metre reading is done by some less than qualified person, over chlorination, for instance, can take place and that is not something we are going to begin to risk here at Works and Engineering."

Asked if he was satisfied that the overtime was essential and properly approved, Mr. Scott said :"I am not satisfied about anything, I'm just gathering information... The truth always lies somewhere in between."

Mr. Scott acknowledged concerns about the electrician who had been promoted to supervisor, but said the sophistication of the waterworks department was such that there "are as much electronics involved as piping" and the department did not have a plumbing section.

"So the fact that you would have a manager who wasn't a plumber made a supervisor is not so extraordinary. In this day and age you could have a computer expert in charge because the equipment is computerised."

He added: "There are allegations about the way in which the supervisor was chosen. The fact that he happened to be an electrician could be quite reasonably explained. But there are allegations about his promotion to that point."