The City administration is taking convenient positions on disciplining drainage workers

Jun 22, 2021 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

The citizens of Georgetown have now been forced to accept and abide by the dreadful fact that once there is rainfall in the city for a few minutes or more, several wards in our capital become flooded. This is in spite of all of the assistance that the central government has been giving to the Georgetown Municipality both in terms of money and machinery.
The Government has been desilting a number of canals, purchasing and installing new pumps around the city. They have been fixing existing pumps, repairing kokers that have been damaged and putting the services of their Engineers at the disposal of the Council.
So one can only understand how disappointing it was for them when they have been visiting the pump stations and sluice facilities lately during the rainy season in our capital only to find the pump operators and sluice attendants either sleeping on the job, inebriated or missing in action from their work sites which results in koker doors being left closed when they should be opened, and the pumps turned off when they should be running.
As a natural sequel to this the Local Government Commission formally requested of an administrator of the Council to advise what actions have been taken against Pump Operators and Sluice Attendants for their failure to execute their duties. They should have also enquired about action was taken against the drainage supervisors and engineers of the City Council
Alas, I must say that I was gob smacked at the egregious, impudent and obtuse response that was provided by that Administrative Officer to the Secretary to the Commission, in which the officer stated that they the Council, did not have the power to discipline pump operators and sluice attendants, or anyone else and so they were awaiting the commission to do it.
The question I have to ask is since when? The Council has hired hundreds of persons without the involvement of the Commission, heads of departments have suspended and dismissed dozens of employees without even consulting the Council let alone the Commission. The Human Resources Department has promoted many, many persons and put them at the top of their salary scales without consulting the Commission. The administrators have awarded themselves all sorts of perks and benefits without consulting the Commission. They have created all sorts of new positions and departments without consulting the Commission. How convenient it is now that they have to defer to the Commission to have sluice attendants and pump operators disciplined. Indeed, the Council is well known to ignore several diktats of the Commission and behave in a manner that suggests that they are above the law
This is a clear aberration of the law and a self-serving attempt to misquote the statutes whilst thumbing their noses at the Commission. The pump operators and sluice attendants fall well below the band of employees that have to be disciplined by the LGC. Ironically this was followed by the Mayor saying that the Local Government Commission had not the authority to instruct the Officer of the council and suggested that the body was trying to dictate to the staff of the Mayor of City Council. Another question I would like the Commission to ask the Council, was whether they have been issuing long boots, rain coats, gloves, reflective vests and other safety gear to their employees

Yours truly,

Magagula Jackson

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