The National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) has fired 77 workers in Linden, following a verification exercise that is part of a nationwide campaign by the agency.
But the fired workers are crying foul, saying that they are being victimised and, along with colleagues still in the NDIA’s employ, they are calling for an intervention by the opposition parties.
Earlier this month, Junior Agriculture Minister Alli Baksh said the NDIA was verifying community workers to regularise their employment and to stamp out corruption, including the inflation of payment sheets.
Following up on a previous exercise held in Linden last month, NDIA officials hosted a second verification exercise on Monday.
Workers, including supervisors, who were fearful of being sacked like their colleagues, spoke with this newspaper on condition of anonymity and said that the first verification exercise in February resulted in a large group, comprising mostly single-parent women, having their contracts terminated. The workers said that many of those fired did not attend the verification.
A supervisor said that she was informed that the NDIA was planning to reduce the workforce. “I saw the minutes of a meeting they had and the decision was taken that they were going to look at prolonged absenteeism, age and last come first go system but then they just change, come with one big hammer and knock off poor people,” she related.
Workers also told this newspaper that most if not all of those who had been terminated worked last month and have not been paid. They noted that the fired workers had three month contracts, covering January to March. “This is gross disrespect for us as poor people,” sobbed one woman, who added that if they were to be dismissed, they should have been given at least one month’s notice and a severance package. In addition, fired workers residing in outlying areas, including Rockstone and Coomacka, said they could not afford to travel to participate in the verification exercise. Others claimed that they subsequently travelled to Georgetown to be verified but were still given their marching orders.
“People does treat their dogs better that how we were treated. I, for one, recalled that I had a medical appointment that day. I got deh doctor to give me coverage to let them see I wasn’t staying away from deh verification meeting on purpose and deh still pull my contract,” another woman said, bursting into tears. “Dis isn’t fair at all, is me alone fending fuh me six children and dis is how deh wuk me, t’all t’all can’t be fair,” she cried.
Stabroek News efforts to secure a comment from NDIA officials proved futile, however, a source close to the NDIA told this newspaper that at January month end, the agency had more workers than needed. “It obvious that we had to do some shedding,” the source said, while adding that this was the main reason that Region 10 Coordinator Abit Ragabeir was fired. A copy of the letter of termination given to her started that she was terminated on the grounds of “mismanagement and loss of confidence.”
When this newspaper spoke to Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon on Monday, he said he had yet to receive an official document from the NDIA regarding Ragabeir’s dismissal. However, he added that based on unofficial information from sources within the NDIA, the fact that a number of persons did not attend the verification exercise indicated that there may have been unethical incidents in the system. “I will not pronounce on this right now, because I don’t have anything official up to this date,” Solomon said.
Meanwhile, the workers who remain employed have noted that their workloads have increased. “The existing workforce has to double up to fill the gap and making it worse they now add more drains to some areas, so it looking like deh really out to pressure us,” this newspaper was told.
Some workers also said that after five years they are still working for pay below the income tax threshold. D&I workers in Linden work from 6am to 10am four days per week. Another noted that they are required to pay a $2,000 fee for a letter of recommendation or a job letter and added that “we can’t get that letter from Linden we would have to go all the way to Georgetown for it. Tell meh nah what dis look like, nah victimisation!”
In addition, workers also claimed that unlike other areas in the country where D&I workers are paid for overtime work, they are not paid. “We does got to tek back we time we don’t get overtime,” one of them explained.
Some of workers also said that they are not comfortable with the management style of the new coordinator Phillip Fordyce. They complained that under the previous management, consideration was given to some single parent women who had babies and young children and they were allowed to turn out to duty at a later time and work later to cover the work period. “We coulda, with good reason, come on a hour or hour and a half later and work through the full eight hour. Now that is a problem. Everything is a problem especially if they feel we on deh other side,” the worker said.
