No word on salaries for Region 3 guards

Sugar workers, who lost their jobs and gained employment as guards in West Demerara, are among several persons who have still not been paid their salaries in the last two months.
According to information obtained on Saturday, the workers were not paid despite some being reportedly told that they would be paid by Friday.
However, when time came, they said their supervisor has not given them any positive word, leaving them to wonder when they will be able to receive their salaries. This month means workers would be entering their third month without being paid.
The guards are employed with a security company that provides guard services to schools and medical facilities in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara). Guyana Times first made enquires on Wednesday and the guard service said it was up to the Region Three administration to effect payments.
Region Three Regional Executive Officer (REO) Denis Jaikarran however gave all assurances that the region is currently in the process of resolving the issue. To this end, he had related that the region was in discussions with the Finance Ministry.
“It is not a shortage of money but there were some difficulties and challenges we faced in terms of the releases… that matter is going to be resolved in quick time,” Jaikarran told this newspaper on Wednesday last.
This publication spoke with two male former sugar workers who said that they were struggling to make ends meet and that the non-payments was having a significant strain on their families. They observed that they were better off when they worked with Wales Estate.
“They taking too long to pay we and they not keeping any meeting to tell we why them an paying we…it hard,” a father of two told Guyana Times last week.
Many of the guards were former Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) employees who were experiencing great difficulty finding work after the State-owned entity ceased operations in December 2016.
“They taking too long to pay we and they not keeping any meeting to tell we why them an paying we… it hard,” the younger guard related, noting that he has a 10-year-old who is attending school.