The Irfaan Ali government has decided to end the public service rotation schedule that was put in in place since April due to the local COVID-19 outbreak and has directed all workers to resume to normal working hours.
The parliamentary opposition yesterday criticised the move as “irresponsible and reckless,” while charging that it endangers the life of every public servant and their families.
An October 7th, 2020 memorandum, sent by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development to ministry staff, explained that they “are required to return to normal hours of work” and added that the ministry would discontinue transporting staff to and from work.
The hundreds of staff members have however been advised to take all necessary precautions while commuting to work.
Opposition Member of Parliament Coretta McDonald yesterday criticised the decision, telling a virtual press conference yesterday that “the undue haste” to have the control return to normal even as deaths from COVID-19 continues to rise is “unconscionable”.
She shared a note from a concerned public servant who explained that with schools and other childcare services still closed, she would have to leave her children unattended at home or take them with her to work and risk their health.
McDonald lamented that absence of any clear explanation of the measures to be implemented and said her party, a key stakeholder, has not seen the COVID-19 measures which have been added to the National Health and Safety Protocols.
“We asked whether spacing requirements were adhered to. We were questioning whether the mode of transport workers would have to use to get to and from work would be addressed. We also questioned whether there were enough wash basins, whether they had enough hand sanitizers or enough masks for distribution. We couldn’t get answers,” McDonald lamented while claiming that the request for public servants to return to work appears to have been made out of spite.
Asked if her party of the trade unions had been privy to any productivity study which might’ve informed the new policy, McDonald said no.
“I’m not aware that any productivity study was conducted… [and] I’ve seen only glimpses of parts of the COVID19 workplace measures drafted by the Ministry of Labour,” she explained.
Guyana has continued to see rising COVID-19 cases and death across the country in recent months.
