Dear Editor,
During the previous Administration’s tenure, many abuses were meted out to the working class of people and because of the scarcity of jobs, lots of the workers were forced to accept these skullduggeries that are being meted out to them. With much fanfare and promises, this Administration was given the opportunity to help make living here better. Instead, this nation witnesses mostly pensioners/retirees, mostly friends/associates of the President getting high-paying jobs. Now this is a President who is already receiving a huge pension and now has a high-paying job that entitles him to free house allowances, transportation etc, the full works but still see the needs to award himself and his Ministers a huge increase in allowances.
Meanwhile, the average working man has to survive on less than 10 per cent of the President’s salary. Visit a particular pharmacy at Parika, East Bank Essequibo, and you will hear that the staff there has to work on weekends and from 08:00h to 18:30h for a measly $10,000 a week.
It is compulsory for them to work on Sundays without double pay for that day.
Go to the popular lumber yard at Stewartville and you will hear that the staff there have to work for $2500 a day starting from 07:30h to 17:30h and if they work until 18:30h, they will then receive $3000. One staff I spoke with told me he worked for over seven years there and that is his salary and any new person comes, they working for the same.
The sad part about it is that he never got annual leave for the seven years he working there, neither any payment for not getting his leave. As I said before, these things have been happening for a while and with the promises by this Administration running up to election, everyone was expecting great changes for the better.
Ironically you have to be an associate/close friend or relative to the President or some of his Ministers to enjoy the betterment.
Editor, during the end of last month, the Regional Democratic Council of Region Six was in the news for a disturbance of a meeting addressing the plight of security guards that are working for Integrated Security Service that gets the contract for providing security to most Government schools, hospitals etc.
Now this firm started during the previous Administration’s term in office and since it’s formation, the media is always publishing the security guards cries for their salaries and the victimisation they are facing.
Under this new Administration, it seems to have gotten worse.
Why is this blatant abuse still taking place under a new Administration? Is someone getting kickbacks when they ignore these ordinary people?
Sincerely,
Sahadeo Bates
