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Customs officers peeved at nonpayment of overtime

Sep 28, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
Please afford me an opportunity to highlight a serious injustice at the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), specifically, Customs and Trade Administration.
It has been three months now since we were last paid any overtime. To exacerbate the situation, a lot of misinformation and half–truths are being peddled as to the reason we are not paid.
This is the second time for this year our overtime payment has been withheld. On the first occasion we received it after the intervention by the president of GPSU.
One of the reasons that are peddled is that all the monies GRA received are paid into the consolidated fund, which is true.
It is a longstanding practice before the existence of the GRA, but our overtime was never held for any long period much less this length of time.
There is a strong belief amongst Customs staff that after much castigation by the GRA administration that there is now ill-will and the perception that Customs staff has ‘Pradoville’ status.
Just as it is a fallacy to say all police officers are guilty of malfeasance. It is a fallacy also to make such a pronouncement about all Customs officers.
Many of us depend on our overtime to supplement our salaries not to live above our means, but to get basic necessities.
There are single parent officers and we all sacrifice our time to be good providers for our families and live a life of integrity. The practice that we are experiencing is cruelty of horrendous proportion.
To prepare for the recent school reopening was quite an ordeal for many of us who were depending on the monies we worked for but never got.
It is important to point out that Government benefits more from overtime work than officers. Let me illustrate; a company or individual that wishes to have extra attendance of officers, make an application on a prescribed form called C43.
The applicant states the nature of work, the date and time the work is expected to be performed and completed.
Based on the nature of work, a staff at the location in which the work is to performed will indicate the staffs that are available to work. In Georgetown, the C43 is subject to three senior signatories at Customs House before it is considered approved. The Government gets 20 percent of the sum total of each overtime work plus a 33 and a third percent on each staff total per month.
It is beyond reason why GRA administration will seek to frustrate its staff by this ‘spiteful’ agenda.
I seriously wonder if one of the decision makers that seems callous to our justified payment were to experience an unduly delay in receiving an allowance or some money due as a result of a willful action of a member of staff.
We have worked for the last three months and therefore we deserve to be paid in a timely manner.
We are appealing to the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Labour and to the conscience of every decent minded citizen; we have worked so we need our money.
Name and Address Withheld

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