A former captain with the Trans-port & Harbours Department (T&HD) in Berbice claims that despite being experienced and able, he was dismissed from duties last year for no apparent reason.
Mahashwar Sugrim, 63, of Glasgow, East Bank Berbice told Stabroek News in a recent interview that his dismissal letter came as a shock when he turned out to work one day.
Sugrim said after he retired at age 55, T&HD rehired him on a month-to-month contract, which was subsequently terminated. He said he had no idea what he had done to have the service terminated when others who were older than him and some who were inexperienced were still working as captains.
Contacted yesterday, the personnel officer at T&HD said Sugrim’s contract was terminated and it was done completely without bias.
But Sugrim said he was later issued with another letter, stating that he should go to the medical board in Georgetown. Sugrim was seen by one doctor but later learnt that he was supposed to be examined by three doctors. He was never given a copy of the medical report.
On his own, he subsequently visited Dr Doobay – head of the medical board – at a private institution for another medical and was told that “nothing was wrong with me.”
He also went to the New Amsterdam Hospital where yet another medical was done and the doctor “deemed that I was fit to work.”
The former captain called on Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy to “look into the medical board to ensure that three doctors are there to examine persons so the reports would not be biased.”
He said he found his dismissal unjust and contacted the T&HD union and learnt that “it is not just me but the services of all other ‘pensioners’ were being terminated.”
But Sugrim said he was aware of employees who were over 65 were still on the job. He even claims that in the past, “captains in other areas collapsed while on duty and were hospitalized but were not dismissed.”
He pointed out that he was in perfect health when he received the letter and that if he was dismissed for any other reason T&HD should inform him.
“Before a person is qualified to captain a passenger ferry, he has to obtain a certificate of competency,” he said. “Some persons who work as captains on the Berbice ferry are actually mates. But that should not be; they are only supposed to take over if something is wrong with the captain at sea.”
He said and about three other persons in Berbice, who are also over 60, are qualified to work as captains.
Just after he was dismissed, he felt he was unfairly treated and wrote to several persons including the manager of T&HD, the Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir, Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy and the Minister of Human Services & Social Security, Priya Manickchand. He said no one responded directly about the issue except for Minister Nadir.
Meanwhile, the former captain said too that because one of the boats was working on one engines, the lines at the stelling were very long.
According to him, “I used to work through the night to clear the traffic before the boats turn in. But I know of instances where the captains and mates would go in early with that boat and leave only the other one to work…”
He also said, “Some of the captains come out [to work] and go in when they feel like and the transport minister needs to know what is going on.”
Sugrim who obtained a Harbour licence while working on a “foreign-going cargo ship” from 1969 to 1977, was granted a Guyana Coastal Master licence while working at Guymine for ten years.
He worked as a captain during the construction of the Canje Bridge before being employed as a mate with T&HD in 1991 and promoted to a captain the following year.
