Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal says the retrenchment of workers at Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is neither racially nor politically driven. The Minister was at the time responding to reports that the GWI is targeting persons of a particular race for retrenchment.
That claim was made yesterday by the former Junior Communities Minister, Annette Ferguson, and has also been repeated on several occasions by persons within the APNU+AFC camp.
But Croal said, ” The issue of retrenchment of workers has nothing to do with politics or in terms of race, it is simply to improve the efficiency and performance at GWI.”
On Monday, the GWI issued termination letters to 76 employees effective June 30. The 76 employees are among 157 persons who are listed to be sent off as part of GWI’s restructuring plans and rationalisation of the staffing establishment.
Minister Croal explained that employment at the company had more than doubled over the past five years, rising from 600 employees in 2015 to 1,380 in 2020. This, he said, represents a 125 percent increase during that period.
He said all due processes were followed in keeping with the Laws of Guyana which include engagements at the level of the GWI’s Board of Directions and the union that represents the workers.
Minister Croal also said the GWI plans to engage the Ministry of Labour, as well as the private sector to secure jobs for those workers.
With APNU+AFC, everything is “racism.” I am sick of these allegations. Get rid of useless members
of one race, and it is racism.
Those who holler racism the loudest are the most racist.