Dear Editor,
The construction of the new and bigger Aurora school building is welcome news, for which the Education Ministry and by extension the coalition government must be commended. It is by far the largest investment and most important made by the current administration in the community so far.
But having said that, the residents of this community have a concern that they feel can and must be addressed urgently, and that is employment opportunities do not exist for labourers, masons, carpenters and other skilled workers on the construction side. While they are cognizant of the fact that the contractor may be the one who has the prerogative to hire and fire, they are also convinced that at least four or even three persons of the eighteen people employed there should be from the community. I was reliably informed that more than two dozen persons in the immediate vicinity, skilled and unskilled, diligently asked for employment and none was successful, and they have a right to be very much concerned.
We all remember when the previous government was using taxpayers’ money to build the Marriott Hotel, and the contractor, a Chinese company was refusing to employ Guyanese workers. This government then in opposition was very vocal in their criticism, and they were right. And while we the people have not seen the contract document or the bill of quantities, it is a reasonable expectation that persons from the community would be employed.
There are times when we have to put ourselves in other people’s place and we will be better able to describe their feelings. Our government is spending close to $120,000,000 on a project in your village; men with the required skills are asking to be employed and they are being rejected.
It is more than relevant for us to remember that when the previous school building was taken down, several persons from the community made requests to have the materials given to them, so that they could make or extend pens for the rearing of poultry, pigs and livestock in order to make a living. Promises were made, but were never fulfilled. It was subsequently unearthed that eighty per cent of the materials are still to be accounted for. There are conflicting or confusing reports pertaining to these materials, and while some may hope that this issue with the effluxion of time will go away, others are of the view that the more confusing it gets the more interesting it will be, until the truth is told.
Now to deny experienced and capable people employment from that area is like rubbing salt in a wound. I only hope that good sense and judgement would prevail, for we have voted for a change and not an exchange.
Yours faithfully,
Archie Cordis
