FITUG urges Guyanese to embrace measures to stop spread of COVID-19

Mar 21, 2020 News

– expresses anxiety over “sweeping powers” of presidential order

The presidential order issued to combat the novel coronavirus, has been described as “a dangerous precedent” by the Federation of Independence Trade Unions of Guyana [FITUG]. The order, it pointed out, apart from wide discretions, has essentially given those empowered to write themselves blank cheques and spend without any oversight.
“This…may not augur well for accountability and transparency,” the FITUG noted with concern adding that “We also recognised [that] it was recently disclosed that a request has been made for US$5M support from the World Bank. Incidentally, this request comes when certain members of the ‘Administration’ are expressing negative thoughts about the views about the international community. But that aside, we hasten to ask: Why must we approach the World Bank? Isn’t our Treasury in a healthy enough position to afford this expenditure? This, we see, could be a telltale ominous sign, time will tell though,” the FITUG noted.
The arrival of the novel Coronavirus [COVID-19] has only served to heighten the anxieties amongst the Guyanese people, FITUG has observed. According to the union body, “Our citizens’ anxiousness was already high following the undoubted attempts to undermine democracy. With several confirmed cases now in our country, the ‘Government’, in our view, belatedly sprang into action. The IMF, from data at its hand, concluded that our country was among the least prepared in our hemisphere,” the FITUG outlined in a statement.
It further added, “Rather than seeking to catch up, an Executive Order was foisted on our people. That order has only, in our view, served to raise the already high temperature even higher given the sweeping powers it has placed in the hands of the ‘Authorities’.
While, the FITUG believes that all and every practical step should be taken, it added, “we fail to see how what the Government has approved itself to pursue can really be helpful. In fact, it is our considered view that it could force Guyanese who may contract the virus, to become afraid to disclose their status given the wide-ranging and vast powers that the authorities now possess.”
According to the FITUG too, “while the officialdom has sought to downplay concerns, we believe, at the same time the extreme measures [are] completely unnecessary at this time. Of course, it did not miss us that the extremities approved could be used as a pretext to further the nefarious activities regarding our votes. Given what has transpired over the last few days, it is hard to discount any possibility now-a-days.”
Another concern, the Federation has is with regards to the effect on employment. Already, one business has indicated that it will have to send employees home for some period, the FITUG noted. It went on to add that the economic slowdown could linger for some time, yet it appears, that there is no attention being paid on this front. “In other nations, we have seen pro-active public policies to alleviate such stresses on peoples and enterprises. This appears to be absent from our response though it is very much an important, and we daresay critical, element.”
For the FITUG, “our concerns rest foremost with the well-being of the Guyanese people, and indeed all peoples of the world. We urge everyone to heed the advice of the experts and to embrace all measures which will mitigate and staunch the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“We are heartened by the news that some headway has been made to find appropriate treatments. We were also pleased to learn that one of the identified treatments can be manufactured locally and we urge that this be fast tracked in the interest of the health of our people. We, at this time, encourage all Guyanese to remain safe,” the FITUG said.

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