TYRANNY AGAINST THE WORKING CLASS

Mar 11, 2009 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

I take my cap off today to the Commissioner-General of the Guyana Revenue Authority, Mr. Khurshid Sattaur. He has indicated that while the polygraph testing of his revenue officers is not a decision of his making he supports it, and is also prepared to take the test himself.
This is the sort of example we need in public life. Mr. Sattaur has stepped up to the plate and said he is willing to do the test which was originally planned to be administered to some of his staff members.
Since he still believes in these tests, Mr. Sattaur should, notwithstanding the President’s call for a review of the process, go ahead and be tested.
I am sure that he would also be willing to make public the findings of this test which is generating so much justified controversy at the moment.
Mr. Sattaur, while willing to submit to the tests, has however made it clear it was not his decision and that he reports to a higher authority. There has also been a hint that these tests may have been ordered by the Board of Directors of the Guyana Revenue Authority.
I am asking the media in Guyana to get on top of this situation and to ascertain just who is behind this decision to administer these tests which I do not believe constitute an accurate measure of the honesty of a person.
I urge the media to immediately demand an explanation from the Chairman of the Board of the Guyana Revenue Authority as to whether it was a decision of his Board to have the tests administered to the staff of the Guyana Revenue Authority. I would also wish for the media to ascertain just how the selection process went and who determined the “red herrings” to be tested.
The Chairman of the Board should also be asked why it is that those selected were asked to turn up at the Office of the President for a briefing and not within the GRA. Why the Office of the President?
We are dealing with the most serious development in terms of the security of employment of government workers in this country. If polygraph testing is to become the norm throughout the public service, it could result in the wholesale dismissal of thousands of workers in the country by a process which finds no acceptable legal, moral or scientific basis in this country.
What the media also needs to ascertain from the Board of Directors of the Guyana Revenue Authority are the purposes of the polygraph tests. Should someone fail his or her polygraph test, would that person be dismissed?
And suppose the tests are administered to everyone within the GRA and an overwhelming majority fail the test, would all who failed be giving marching orders?
I believe there is something extremely sinister behind these polygraph tests. I believe they are intended to appease the Americans that action is being taken to ensure the integrity of agencies which are crucial in securing borders and preventing the illicit movement of narcotics. It is, I believe, a public relations gimmick.
The only thing is that it has real and dire implications for the lives of workers who could find themselves on the breadline for simply failing these tests. And this is why it must be resisted.
I commend those thirteen staff members of the Guyana Revenue Authority for taking a brave and courageous stand. I believe they stood up for what they believed to be right and it was this decision which has forced a review of the process.
They knew the possible consequences of their decisions but they were brave enough to take a principled stand. They have made history in this country by forcing a retreat in those wishing to administer the tests.
Had these tests been allowed to be administered to the staff of the Guyana Revenue Authority, it would then most likely have spread to other parts of the public service with dire consequences for the morale of workers.
It is shameful that in this the month that Guyana is observing the death anniversary of a man whose entire life was committed to fighting for the rights of workers, that the government which flows from the party that he formed should find itself doing such a grave injustice to workers by asking that they submit to lie-detector tests.
Workers in Guyana must unite against these tests, which represent a tyranny against the working class.

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TYRANNY AGAINST THE WORKING CLASS

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