Support Village Voice News With a Donation of Your Choice.
…residents plan massive protest Friday
Residents of Linden will on Friday protest Government’s decision to fire more than 27 Lindeners from the Linden Hospital Complex.
“Join us at 9am tomorrow at the Linden Hospital Complex, as we protest the actions of the CEO Rudy Small and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health who today fired 27 Lindeners employed at the facility. #Their interest is not the development of the region and the people,” Region 10’s Regional Chairman, Deron Adams said on his Facebook page late Thursday night.
In that very post, Adams shared a letter dated April 20, 2022, from the Ministry of Health, Linden Hospital Complex, in which, a staff was informed that his/her contract will not be renewed.
“I write to inform you that after careful consideration, the management has decided that your service would no longer be required with effect from 1st June, 2022,” a section of the letter read. That letter was signed by Rudolph Small, the Chief Executive Officer of the Linden Hospital Complex.
In a separate Facebook post, APNU+AFC Member of Parliament, Jermaine Figueira registered his objection. “It has been brought to our attention that the Linden Hospital Complex under the leadership of the CEO Mr Rudy Small, the Regional Health Officer and by extension the Minister of Health is on an exercise to fire over 40 low level staff of the hospital,” the Regional MP said.
MP Figueira said in a community with an unemployment rate of over 65% and a consistently high cost of living, the decision to place more Lindeners on the breadline is simply uncaring and will undoubtedly place greater burden on the people of the mining town.
“The firing of cleaners, porters, kitchen staff and others whose salaries are way below the poverty line in these trying times, is testimony to the uncaring nature of the PPP regime to our people most in need,” he said.
The APNU+AFC MP pointed out that the dismissal of the hospital staff follows the visit to the town by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo.
“The visit several weeks ago by the VP and his team of shipped in supporters to Linden, making their usual sugar coated speeches and empty promises of which “800 JOBS” were to be made available in “two weeks” is met with this unwarranted and inhumane act of firing a number of poor single parent women by their henchman CEO Smalls,” he said.
He said two weeks after, no jobs have been made available.
The Regional MP is calling on the Administration to correct, what he described as a “wicked and uncalled for act.”
“We need jobs and much needed assistance for our people, just like the sugar workers,” he said.
