Proposed Public Servants Reconciliation Fund

Aug 18, 2021 Letters

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Dear Editor,

I would like to enquire from President, Irfaan Ali, about what are his plans to provide alternative employment for those hundreds of public servants, whose services were terminated from August 2020. Usually, in circumstances such as these, many people would migrate to seek employment in other countries, however, we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and many of the countries where Guyanese would normally migrate to, are experiencing challenges in most sectors.
Additionally, Guyana is now becoming one of the wealthiest countries in the Western Hemisphere or even the world, so many of those persons would prefer to remain and contribute towards the development of this country. There is a high level of frustration and hopelessness currently in the country, among citizens. One of the factors for this hopelessness among persons, whose services were terminated in the public service, is their inability to access professional work. Where else can someone with a master’s degree in Public Sector Management gain employment to utilise their learnings, but in the public sector, or perhaps at the university or in consultancy? Another point, many of those persons whose services were terminated are highly qualified professionals, and because of the way in which they were terminated, international organisations are, and may be, hesitant to employ them; in some cases, out of concern that the government may not support this decision.
President Ali should inform international organisations that the government will not disapprove of them employing former public servants whose services were terminated from August 2020, because the government recognises that these citizens need employment to take care of themselves and families, to use their talents in meaningful ways and contribute to the growth and development of their country. Many of these former public servants are currently not doing well financially and economically, and the government needs to find alternative employment for them. Our ‘Next Level Support Network’ (NLSN) that was formed to provide support, had established a small ‘Fund’ and the monies are almost exhausted in the ‘Fund,’ one year later.
Very often, when the termination of these public servants is raised, a counter argument is that the APNU+AFC government had dismissed over 6,000 employees from GuySuCo; however, before each and every one of those 6,000 employees’ services were terminated, meetings were held with them, alternative employment opportunities were offered within the corporation, where possible, and their benefits were paid. A programme was also developed, the ‘Sustainable and Resilient Communities Programme’ (S&RCP) which included an ‘Alternative Livelihoods’ component. This programme endeavoured to retrain/re-skill those ex-employees in areas of their interest; explore alternative employment in other public sector agencies and the private sector. Those who desired to become entrepreneurs also received training and support. Partnerships were developed between GuySuCo and the private sector to provide them with advice on finance, business, investment, insurances, etc.
There were persons, I was told, from the then Opposition PPP/C, who it was claimed, were encouraging some of these workers not to participate in the S&RCP, so that it would not have been very successful, even at the expense of the ex-employees’ development. I know that this would be denied, but Rose Hall Estate was one of the places where this occurred, and it was one of the reasons why the enrollment for the programmes was low. The APNU+AFC government also erred by not providing sufficient financial support for this programme. At one point, a discussion was started for G$1 billion dollars to fund the programme, which was a shock-counteraction and shock-absorption mechanism. This money could have been given to an agency like the Small Business Bureau. In order for us to really move forward, we must speak the truth about why we are where we are as a people, and as a country, hence I made these references.
It has been one year after the declaration of the March 2020 elections and several months since many of those ex-public servants are out of jobs and are not earning an income. I would therefore like to urge that the government consider the following: that some of those agencies, which were closed, many without good reason, be reopened and ex-public servants are re-employed. One such agency that should be reopened is the ‘Social Cohesion’ agency. This could be the implementation agency for the President’s ‘One Guyana’ programme. As one examines the development of the country over the past year, it is evident that the government does not have sufficient required expertise to grow and develop the country; therefore, I would suggest that many of these professional, highly experienced ex-public servants be re-employed.
I will be running for President in 2025 and one of my goals is to grow the population to about1.2 to 1. 5 million. As a matter of fact, I/we have already started to develop that plan. Therefore, we will have need for each and every Guyanese who is currently living in Guyana, and many from the Diaspora, as well as other foreigners. I would also like to suggest that the government establishes a ‘Public Sector Reconciliation Fund.’ What the government has done over the past year has created new ‘cycles of hurt’ and opened old wounds. The purpose of the ‘Public Sector Reconciliation Fund’ will be to conduct an assessment of those public servants, within a given period, who were wrongfully terminated, and have not received adequate benefits and provide them with financial support to assist them with opportunities for a second chance to accelerate their growth to attain economic and financial stability, as well as part of the healing and reconciliation programme and mechanism. This will also bring an end of unnecessary termination of public servants when governments change.
Finally, if President Ali’s government is not receptive to the ‘Public Sector Reconciliation Fund’ idea, I intend to establish it when I become President in 2025.

Yours faithfully,
Audreyanna Thomas
Presidential Candidate 2025

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