Dear Editor,
The issue of the Critchlow Labour College (CLC) grant/subvention existed since the college opened its doors. The money acquired from the state was always held in a special account and audited quarterly by the Auditor General Office. The Bharrat Jagdeo government had instructed Anand Goolsarran, then Auditor General to audit the books of the college, and was advised against same on the ground that the law does not permit the state to look into the financial welfare of a non-state institution.
The college is presently being advised by the Ministry of Education that in order to uplift the subvention, seven years of its audited statements have to be provided. Outside of the seven years being asked for not being the business of the state, the government did not give any money to the college. Additionally the CLC is now being asked to provide a budget for 2017 when the money for 2016 has not yet been received.
It is the view that some operatives of this government want to use the college for political mileage. On one hand the public is being told by the government that the grant has returned, given that it is placed in the National Estimates, yet at the same time the government has moved to make it difficult for the college to access same. Those laying out such conditions for disbursement are aware said condition was rejected by the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), the college’s owner, when same was put to it by the Jagdeo and Donald Ramotar administrations.
The GTUC held a special meeting on a Saturday morning, and in attendance were Mr Granger, then Leader of the Opposition and now President, and shadow minister of Labour Basil Williams, now Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs. The case was placed before them, the principles outlined and explained, including the role the state plays in auditing state money in state and non-state institutions. At the conclusion of this engagement both men urged the GTUC to remain steadfast in our position and told us that we would have their support. Today the GTUC and CLC are being told, through the condition set, that they have to disregard fundamental principles.
The CLC has two objectives. These are providing trade union education, and workers education. 98 per cent of the work the CLC does falls in the realm of workers’ education, since more than 80 per cent of the persons who attend the college are not members of a trade union. The curriculum is also designed specifically to enable and build the capacity of citizens/workers to perform in the work environment, including targeting those who deserve a second chance.
The CLC, while owned by the GTUC, has never confined itself to providing only trade union education, similar to the Guyana Industrial Training Centre (GITC) which was originally owned by the GTUC, and is now owned by the state.
The trade union movement is a major social partner in the society and plays leading roles in societal development, which our history will show. It is the first mass-based organisation in the 20th century and to its credit had laid the foundation and fought for internal self-government, universal suffrage (one man one vote), improved working and living conditions, fundamental rights and freedoms, minimum wage, etc. Forbes Burnham, Desmond Hoyte, Cheddi and Janet Jagan understood and respected our contributions to and roles in society in spite of differences on some policies, programmes and governance style.
From the time the APNU+AFC took office, there has been no engagement at the policy level as to the direction and future of the college or the federated body and our roles in partnering with the state in training and educating workers/citizens in the nation’s overall developmental agenda, including production and productivity.
The society needs to note that history has shown that in any environment where political leaders are deliberately moving to weaken and break up non-state institutions, they use the taxpayers’ money as a bludgeon in an effort to silence non-state leaders. What they will succeed in doing is destroying society’s foundation, the people’s free-spiritedness and right to knowledge and self-determination, in pursuit of imposing their authoritarian instincts to control and dominate every space ‒ what we do, think, and have access to.
The college and trade union movement began witnessing such behaviour under Jagdeo and it continues today under a government whose parties condemned it when they were in the opposition.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis
