APNU+AFC bungled CHWs training programme In Region Six

THE COALITION A PARTNERSHIP FOR NATIONAL UNITY, ALLIANCE FOR
CHANGE (APNU+AFC) government bungled the Community Health Workers (CHWs)
programme in Berbice and trainees were left to suffer the consequences.
“There were 49 of us. We were being told each month that this month, next month we would be
paid and this continued until the government changed (in August 2020). We thought all along
that we were employed, but after several enquiries, we learnt that we were never employed but
rather just taken on board temporarily,” a distraught, former CHW recalled.
She, like her other 48 colleagues, was very disappointed that APNU+AFC government
representatives deceived them.
“I guess we were used for political reasons and this is what hurts a lot. No one from the then
administration was honest enough to tell us that we were being used politically to create the
impression that the government was creating employment, and this has rested heavily with
several of us now being left in a quandary over the situation,” another former CHW-trainee
offered.
A mother of five revealed that things are now exceptionally difficult on the family. She said
while her husband works, she is seeking to find fresh employment to aid with the monthly bills.
Her son is preparing to write the regional Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC)
tests later this year and that helps exacerbate their financial struggles.
“Things are really hard. I have five children and with the eldest preparing for CXC this year we
are really struggling. My husband doesn’t complain, but I know it’s very difficult for him too,”
she admitted.

The pain of the APNU+AFC deception still lingers in the voices of the CHWs during the
interview with www.aroundtheregions.com. The programme in East Berbice/Corentyne (Region
Six) was originally scheduled for six months but extended due to the onset of the contagious and
deadly CORONA Virus.
Ten months after the programme commenced, they received no salaries. Elections came and
went. Still no salaries. PPP/C replaced APNU+AFC. And it took Mr. Narindra Persaud, newly-
appointed Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Six, to step in to ensure the hapless
CHWs were eventually paid.
One of the CHWs recalled her elation when admitted into the programme. For her, it was
fulfilment of a lifelong dream to work in the healthcare sector. Then her nightmare started.
“I am now depending on the kind good gesture of my sisters as they do not have children as yet
thankfully, and they are helping me out but they have their own expenses. I am very
embarrassed, as prior to getting into the programme, they were assisting me and now they are
forced to assist me as I have no one to turn to. My mother isn’t working and my son and
daughter’s father had abandoned us a long time ago,” another CHW, a single parent said.
Another single parent of a six-year-old son, admitted her utter frustration over the entire
embarrassing episode and was “moved to tears” when the REO’s intervention guaranteed her the
long-awaited accumulation of her salaries.
“My situation was cushioned by the assistance that I got from an overseas relative. I am
extremely frustrated and depressed at the moment as the situation that we were faced with would
have sent anyone crazy,” she admitted.
She said that while she has not yet secured another employment, she is thankful that the
intervention of the REO resulted in all 49 persons being paid.
Some of the former CHWs are unhappy their economic hardships were politicised by the now-
opposition APNU+AFC who created the crisis and should take full responsibility for the
situation. “They were in Government; they had an opportunity to fix things as they hired us on a

temporary basis. If they were genuinely serious about development, they would have ensured
that we were fully employed and they have no one else to blame but themselves,” a
representative of the group stressed.