Government employees on tiny Caribbean isle of Saba to get 6 years’ worth of back pay

Saba public workers to get 6 years of back pay

THE BOTTOM, Saba — Government workers on the tiny Dutch Caribbean island of Saba are scheduled to receive more than half a million dollars in back wages dating from 2003.

Finance Commissioner Bruce Zagers says $331,000 will be paid this month, and the remaining $347,000 by year’s end.

Zagers said Thursday that the back wages began accumulating after the government was unable to honor a 2001 promise to provide periodic increases, blaming an economic crisis.

Saba is the smallest of five islands that make up the Netherlands Antilles.

Some 1,500 people live on the island, which is best known for its diving.