President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) Patrick Yarde has commended the militancy displayed by public servants against the authoritarianism displayed by the government and called on stakeholders to continue to struggle for respect and good governance.
“We will continue to relentlessly pursue good governance and with determination resolutely stand firm in [defence] of our rights, Yarde said in his New Year’s message.
The high-handed approach and abuse of power by government functionaries must stop, he said, urging the nation to stand up against this tyranny. The GPSU head said government’s failure to put in place certain constitutional institutions intended to protect public servants from the abuses of power
has created an environment where the constitution and rule of law are continuously flouted.
The Public Service Appellate Tribunal, a constitutional body, has not been operationalised in over 12 years, and neither has the Public Procurement Commission which is compulsory under the 2003 Procurement Act, he said. The Office of the Ombudsman which was not reconstituted for over a decade was “reluctantly resuscitated” in the latter half of 2013.
“In time, we would determine whether Government would allow it to function with its required independence, which interestingly enough was not accorded to the Ethnic Relations Commission…”, he said, adding that this clearly demonstrates the “self-serving nature of the government and its willingness to trample on the rights of citizens.”
Yarde further said these abuses are aided and abetted by an ineffective judiciary, which under the Constitution is charged with the protection of the rights of citizens. The delays associated with its operations constantly prove to be a bugbear in the quest to fulfil its mandate in a manner that guarantees justice.
Government again displayed its tyranny with its arbitrary approach to increases of wages and salaries for public servants, Yarde said.
“The representative Trade Union was ignored for the entire fiscal year and more enlightening was the continued breach of the Appropriation Act, in which Parliament had allotted sums for increases in wages and salaries amounting to 15.12%,” he said.
Further, he noted, President Donald Ramotar who assented to the Appropriation Bill becoming an Act, told the nation that there are no funds to pay more than 5% increase and Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh “gave the most offensive explanations for the misuse of the appropriations.”
According to Yarde, this anti-working class policy enacted by the government has been challenged worldwide and it is clear that the nation must resolve to be steadfast as they fight against this oppression.
