GPSU’s dossier On dismissed workers Nears completion

INVESTIGATIONS INTO WANTON DISMISSALS OF PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS
are almost complete and will soon be publicised, Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU)
President Mr. Patrick Yarde said.
Yarde blamed the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) coalition for axing hundreds of
government employees when it returned to power in August 2020 striking panic among workers
especially those suspected of sympathies to the now-opposition A Partnership for National
Unity, Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).
“I don’t know how long people will put up with it,” Yarde told www.aroundtheregions.com in an
exclusive interview.
According to the top GPSU official, the Irfaan Ali administration had promised to be a
government for “all Guyanese” during the run up to the polls, but immediately abandon that
commitment upon assumption to office in a stunning display of “blatant double standards”.
The PPP/C made good on its campaign promise though to reopen Rose Hall, Skeldon, Wales and
Enmore all closed by the APNU+AFC administration as part of its restructuring plan., Yarde
observed
The PPP/C rehired thousands of previously-dismissed sugar workers in their political strongholds in
Rose Hall and Skeldon in East Berbice/ Corentyne, (Region Six); Enmore in Demerara/Mahaica,
(Region Four) where it has pockets of strong support; and Wales, (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara
(Region Three) a traditional political bastion for the party.
“When this government came into office, instantly before there was a budget, they could have
taken $600M of public funds to address their constituents, GUYSUCO,” (the Guyana Sugar
Corporation) Yarde noted.

The sweetener industry GUYSUCO is a perennial loss-making public entity for many years. But
it is historically, a haven of PPP/C support. When the incumbent ruled uninterruptedly between
1992 and 2015 it plugged billions into the sector hoping for a turnaround. It never happened.
This trend has resumed since August 2020.
“In the (2021) budget they have allocated billions of dollars for that purpose, check the record
you will see. GUYSUCO for over a decade has not been profitable and all this investment is for
political purposes,” Yarde contended.
The GPSU official is outraged that public funds continue to be poured into this ailing entity; that
dismissed workers are being rehired to prop up the sickly corporation, while sections of the
population the government believes does not share its political vision, are excised
indiscriminately.
This as a “political stunt to appease their supporters,” Yarde explained.
The GPSU official said he now has a front seat view of previously dismissed employees, but
who are loyal to the PPP/C are now holding very senior positions within the Public Sector and
earning super salaries.
“This is cause for concern,” Yarde said, noting that his Union intends to address this and other
critical issues soon after they complete their investigation of workers dismissals under this
government.
“I was chairman of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and someone I dismissed is back on
the job receiving over a million dollars a month,” Yarde said, unwilling to provide more details.
“I will eventually call name,” he promised when pressed.
“I had dismissed someone from the Ministry of Legal Affairs who is now back on the job and
receiving over a million dollars a month.”

“A Deputy Permanent Secretary (DPS) who was terminated at the Ministry of Agriculture is
back on the job with a promotion, now as a Permanent Secretary (PS), and I can go on and on
and acquaint you with these developments,” the GPSU President said.
He stressed that there are several similar instances in the public sector and their document will be
available to the nation when completed.
“We have not completed our investigations, we have been saying that they have been political
victimization, we can say that clearly but we want to have the accompanying evidence to deal
with it,” Yarde contends.
But a very senior Government official is skeptical, dismissing Yarde’s claims as hot air noting
that several persons the Union claimed were dismissed are still employed.
The official sees Yarde’s claims as part of a wider opposition-directed plot to undermine the
government and foment national unrest with claims of government discrimination and
victimisation.
“This is far from the truth,” the government official said.
“What they (GPSU) are accusing us of is what the former APNU+AFC administration was doing
while they were in office, and sadly the GPSU said nothing about it. There is no evidence to their
claims and they want to create political distrust and uneasiness in the country, hoping that it will
work. The public has recognised their plans and is very intelligent to not be fooled by it,’ the
official declared