GPL staff not satisfied with measures employed to stop spread of Covid-19  

Dear Editor

Further to the press release that was issued by the Guyana Power and Light Inc as a result of a letter that broke the press in your newsletter on October 3, 2020  kindly allow me the opportunity to respond to that press release. It must be noted that it’s a shame that the organisation in their press release issued on their facebook page on October 3,2020 selectively chose to respond to just one of the many issues outlined in the letter. The staff however well awaits the prompt actions as it relates to other changes such as protocols being breached, unprofessional conduct, hiring and shortlisting practices and other key areas. I will use this forum to address the truth and fallacies of that press release.

Firstly, social distancing is not practiced when the operations department which includes the meter reading, maintenance, revenue and billing departments are expected to turn out to work in their full numbers. How can the building accommodate the same amount of staff under the strict requirements of a worldwide pandemic. These staff are subjected to work in an enclosed area in their numbers ,they do not work on a rotation system like the staff in the customer services area .The customer service division have placed two glass barriers to prevent close contact, but  why only have two glass barriers when more than two staff are rotated on a weekly basis. The credibility of the press release is questioned since it is laced with lies. Many times the back office staff questioned the amount of persons in the building. It is troubling to sit and see the staff of the customer service division endure that form of pressure when there is a pandemic , the payment lines and billing enquiry lines should not cater for more than two persons per cashier or staff.

On September 6, 2020 the company issued a press release informing the public that its office on Main Street will be closed for a period of one week. What that release failed to mention was the reason for the closure. The reason for the closure was as a result of one staff testing positive for the corona virus. No contact tracing was done to ascertain who this staff may have come into contact with nor did the company seek the assistance of the M.O.H to have staff tested. Another fallacy I would like to address is the issuing of PPE’s for staff, the company does not check the temperature of staff entering the building nor is masks and hand sanitizers provided. The only time the building was sanitized was after that staff had tested positive. The company has failed to recognize  persons who may have underlying conditions or whose immune systems are compromised due to a history of illness(es).The company has a history of dismissing staff related issues and focusing more on trying to figure out who are the authors of these letters.

Yours truly
Concerned staff