-contracts to be terminated
Twenty-one of 34 Guyana Energy Agency employees who recently took lie detector tests failed them and while some have resigned the contracts of the remainder are to be terminated, according to Head of the GEA, Dr Mahender Sharma.
Responding to a question from Stabroek News on the reported termination of six persons yesterday, Sharma said:
“Of 34 persons recently polygraphed, 21 (62%) failed. While some have since resigned, the remaining employment contracts have been (or are in the process of being) terminated. Guyana Energy Agency continues to ensure the integrity of the system and by extension, the Officers employed under the Fuel Marking Programme.
In addition to continuous monitoring of activities, work ethic, conduct, successes, failures and subsequent investigations of reports of corrupt practices; polygraph tests have been institutionalized as part of the drive to ensure system integrity.”
Stabroek News was told that six employees of the GEA were yesterday handed letters of contract termination while a seventh opted to resign, one day after being told they had failed the polygraph tests they had taken in January.
These terminations come on the heels of several more which have occurred within the last few months and according to one of the sacked employees this situation has resulted in a severe staff shortage at the Agency.
One of the recently sacked workers who asked for his name to be withheld told Stabroek News that the circumstances of his termination has left him with a bitter taste for the Agency and he is now contemplating taking legal action.
The former employee who at the time of his termination was an inspector and had dedicated the last four years of his life to the Agency said that within the past few weeks about twenty staffers have been sent packing. He said that mostly the junior staff – inspectors, markers and supervisors – are targeted.
According to the man, about a month ago a few staff were sent off, then six two Fridays ago followed by six more yesterday. In all the cases the former employee said, those terminated were told that they had failed the polygraph test done in January. He said that before the end of this week at least five persons would be sent home. Three of these persons, he said are in the marking section.
He said that on Monday during a private meeting with Heads of Departments and Sharma, he was called up to the CEO’s Secretariat at the Quamina Street head office. He recalled being asked to leave his phone outside.
According to him while inside the room, Sharma told him that he was unsuccessful at the test and that his contract with the Agency was being reconsidered. He said that while he was in the room Sharma was the only person who spoke.
Sharma according to him asked if he had anything to say and he responded in the affirmative. The former employee said that he indicated to Sharma that the questions he was asked had nothing to with his job at the Agency.
The man told this newspaper that one of the questions asked was whether he ever did anything to hinder the productivity of the government of Guyana. According to him he answered no. He told Stabroek News that he was “a bit shocked” at this question because it was political in nature.
He said that he spent about two minutes in the room with Sharma and the Heads of Departments before he left and at the time based on what was said to him he knew that he was going to be fired. He said that he and six colleagues were summoned to the office that day and they were given the option of either resigning or waiting for termination of service. He said he opted to wait for the termination of service because he plans to take legal action against the agency.
Around mid-morning yesterday he received his letter of dismissal and left the compound shortly after. A part of the letter which was read to this newspaper stated that “the agency may at any time determine the officer’s engagement on giving the officer one month’s notice in writing or on paying the officer one month’s salary in lieu of notice”
The former employee recalled that when he was interviewed for the job he was informed about the possibility of polygraph testing and at that time did not have an issue with it. He noted that it was not stated in his contract that it would be used as grounds for dismissal.
Being used
The former employee expressed the view that they are just being used. He said that it is only the junior staff that is being targeted. “They doing random interviews, they are using you”, he said adding that “the question is why you not taking the test also, they are not taking it, it is just junior staff”.
According to him the head of one of the departments also failed the test but was given a second chance because there was no one at the time to replace him.
It was noted that the marking section in particular is understaffed. “This thing (the dismissals), is creating a staff shortage. How is he going to clamp down on fuel smuggling when there are no experienced persons there at the terminals… they just hiring 18 and 19 year olds who have no experience”, the former employee said that two boats are expected this weekend and there is doubt that there would be staff available to conduct the necessary tests.
Asked how he ended up at the GEA, the former employee said that at the time he was young and in need of a job. He said that he enjoyed it but “coming on to the end with how things ended I regret it”. He noted that his file is clear as he had never been implicated in bribery or accused of taking money from anyone while executing his duties.
He said that if in the near future the Agency decides to give him back the job he wouldn’t take it. “I would never go back if I am called back, I am done. I am not interested in that”, he said.
According to the former employee “the whole place needs a change-up. There is a lot of internal corruption… everyone uses connections”.
Contracts
terminated
During the latter part of April this newspaper was told of three dismissals. When asked about this via email, Sharma, while noting this was untrue, said that “employment contracts for Marking Officers and Inspectors, totalling seven, were terminated today (April 26) in accordance with the terms and conditions of their respective employment contracts”.
At the time this newspaper had also received reports that the questions asked during the administering of the test had nothing to do with GEA-related matters. Sharma responded, “it is interesting to note that this question is premised on the acceptance of compromised integrity and acceptance of results of the polygraph. It is further interesting to note that there were employees who passed the polygraph test, so does that mean that the test is biased?”
Sharma said in the email that he is not trained in the methods and tools employed in the process of polygraphing “so I would be unable to speak to the methods employed by the polygrapher”.
Back in March Vernon James who at the time was a GEA inspector based in Linden was sent packing after he did not volunteer to take a polygraph test. He called the situation an “injustice”.
He said that he had opted not to take the test in 2011 and 2012. He had gone to take the test at a hotel in Campbellville in 2010 but could not because he had a sinus issue and the polygrapher had advised him not to take the test.
In 2009 Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon said the government intended to make the practice of polygraph testing an annual exercise that will ensure the public can have complete trust in the authorities that serve them.
Polygraph testing was first used in 2008 on the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) with all 32 members of the Unit being tested. Nine individuals failed and their services were terminated.
The tests were extended to include employees at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri, the GEA and the Narcotics Branch of the Guyana Police Force stationed at the airport.
Based on the number of reports received by this newspaper the GEA is using the tests more than any other agency. There have been no reports of anyone from the other agencies being sent home within the last two years.
