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I was listening to an interview by the Minister of Labour Joe Hamilton on NCN at Linden where he viciously attacked Lincoln Lewis and also mentioned my name. Having listened to his rantings and ravings and his constant talk about Black people, not the impasse at the Linden Utility Services Coop Society Limited (LUSCSL), I am now convinced that he is the worst Minister of Labour that we have ever seen in Guyana.
Over the years I have always had high regards for ministers of labour and their traditional impartial positions in dealing with labour issues. The present minister seems to be exactly the opposite.
I am aware that there have been issues at the LUSCSL over the years and that has led to some unfortunate situations. However, proper investigations were never done before the committee was removed. Under whose watch did this happen? It is timely to ask, were the day- to-day activities of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) monitored to ensure that they were doing what was expected of them. It is my strong view that the interim failed from the outset and deliberately programmed the situation for an extended period.
Of course they raised their monthly stipend by 166% and their monthly telephone allowance by 150%. There has been a lot of talk about essential service, but the workers have dealt with all emergency situations in a timely manner.
Recently great efforts have been made to intimidate the workers who are on strike by indicating that they can be prosecuted for taking strike action. In conclusion I wish to say to the minister that your entire attitude convinces me that the attacks on the cooperatives, is a long time policy to destroy organisations that were established by Forbes Burnham.
The Minister of Labour told a lot of lies relative to financial issues at the Society. He mentioned that the Society owes $11 million and there have been defaults in terms of paying taxes.
A few years ago some meters were purchased by the Society and many of them were defective. These purchases were done under a previous committee and because of the specs and other factors, payments were halted.The matter subsequently went to the court and the supplier won the case. After the ruling of the court, the supplier apparently died. Since that time the money was placed in a special account and is still in that account.
The Minister of Labour talked about workers at the Society increasing electricity rates but this is also not true. The rates of the Society did not increase since 2010. In fact, the residents of Wismar have been paying more for electricity than the residents of Mackenzie since 2010. In fact, electricity rates at Mackenzie have not increased for about 23 years. If there isn’t a meter on a property a minimum amount is paid but that figure can change based on the amount of electrical appliances in use in the property, and with proper assessment by electrical staff of the Society.
The Society does not owe taxes to anyone.
The Minister made many other false claims and that can be dealt with in a court of law.
It clearly shows his reluctance to do proper investigations before jumping to conclusions. He also spoke about the good things the IMC has done financially. I think the Minister is only justifying his gross incompetence and bias. I want to close by saying to the Minister, stop accusing people you don’t know of corruption.
