Gov’t denies withholding budgeted funds from public servants

The nurses and other workers during Thursday’s protest at the Fort Wellington Hospital

Government is denying that it has withheld some $3 billion approved in the national budget for from public servants, with a high ranking official yesterday explaining that funds budgeted for the revision of wages and salaries were not intended to be used only for the public servant wage hike.

The denial came even as attempts at conciliation between the Public Service Ministry and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) resulted in gridlock and a recommendation by the Labour Ministry, which is acting as a mediator, for the two sides to resume meeting early next year.

The GPSU has accused the government of arbitrarily imposing a 5% hike on public servants outside of