Different strokes for different folks!

Aug 26, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Remorse is good for the soul. But how many in the government have been remorseful about the actions which they have taken and which have been highly criticized?
The Cabinet is not a pack of angels. The members of Cabinet are human – all too human. They make mistakes. Those who make mistakes deserve a second chance.
Everyone in life deserves a second chance. If a government Minister makes a mistake, then the Minister should be given a second chance. It sounds all well and good on the part of the government to be asking for a defaulting Minister to be given a chance because he or she is not an angel and is liable, as we all are, to make mistakes.
In other words, what the learned Vice President is saying is do not be too harsh on a Minister who had made a mistake. Do not call for that Minister to be dismissed. Give the Minister a chance.
But how many persons has the present government given a chance to? The government has been hounding persons out of the public service. They have dismissed persons. They have retired others. They have replaced some persons with their own supporters. They have refused to renew the contracts of persons whose contracts had expired but which could have been renewed.
Those persons have not been given a second chance. They have not been deemed liable to mistakes. They have been sent packing without any regard for the effects of their dismissals on their families. They have been put on the breadline.
It sounds nice to hear one Minister pleading with the public to give his colleague a second chance. But how many persons were given a chance much less a second chance by the new government?
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Public Health was sent packing without so much as a hearing. He was not given a second chance. The heads of many agencies were sent off their job. The head of one senior official within the health sector is now on the chopping block. He will be the next to be fired, because the government does not want him on the job. He is not being given a second chance.
The Chief Education Officer, after years of service, was sent packing when his contract expired. No one was saying then that the man should be given back his job. The Head of the GPL was sent packing. Nobody said, “Let us give him a second chance. He is human”
Persons from the GRA were fired without the chance of even knowing why they were fired? Why then should the only persons to be given a second chance, be those affiliated with the ruling coalition? Why should only Ministers of the government be given a second chance?
The Registrar of Births and Deaths was sent packing because she allegedly refused an instruction from a Minister. This woman was a senior public servant and no Minister should be instructing a public servant. The instructions have to be given by the Permanent Secretary and not the Minister. But this professional who did so much to improve the service at the Registry of Births and Deaths was not given a chance.
The Head of the Land Registry was sent on leave pending a probe. We have not heard about the outcome of the probe and who did the probe. But the good lady has not returned from leave. She was let go. She was not given a second chance. The Head of the Geology and Mines Commission was sent packing. No second chance.
Nothing criminal was found against persons at the Privatization Unit. Yet senior officials were sent packing. No second chance. Low level officials at the Guyana Embassy in New York had their services ended or their contracts expired. No second chance for them. All over the public service people are being let go. No one is asking whether they deserve a second chance and whether they have mouths to feed at home.
It is all nice and good for the APNU+AFC minister to speak about people liable to make mistakes and therefore due for a second chance. But that principle is conveniently applied. It applies only to Ministers of the government
The Cabinet approved a 50% increase in salaries for its members last year. But the final proposal for public servants ranges from 1% at the top of the scale to 10% at the bottom. How come the same 50% could not have applied to all workers?
One percent of a million dollars is $10,000. Ten percent of $50,000 is $5,000. Who is getting the bigger increase in absolute terms?
The Guyana Public Service Union should turn to the government and say. “We all make mistakes. You have just made a mistake. We will give you a second chance. Come back with a better offer!”

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Different strokes for different folks!

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