The Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit staff, who failed their lie detector tests, received their termination letters yesterday advising them that their service with the unit was ending with immediate effect.
Government held tough on its decision, even though there has been widespread debate on the use of the tests as a basis for firing staff. This newspaper understands that the letters contain, among other things, further notification of the specific employees’ failure at the tests.
Stabroek News was also reliably informed that the letters fully set out the entitlements of those employees.
Yesterday, following his presentation at the opening of the Association of Caribbean Heads of Corrections and Prisons Services conference, reporters approached Home Minister Clement Rohee with questions on the matt2
er. Asked about the parliamentary opposition and their disagreement with the tests being used as the only basis to fire the employees, Rohee said, “It’s politicking. We can’t work with that. We are working with polygraphing.”
However Rohee said he felt that it was understandable that people would express their views, “but they are conclusive.” Asked whether he felt politicians should undergo the tests, Rohee, after a long pause, said the tests could be expanded “if needs be”. Clarifying whether the question also included opposition members of parliament as part of government, Rohee said he was not sure whether the opposition would agree to subject themselves to polygraph tests.
Asked whether he would agree to the tests, Rohee said it would be up to President Bharrat Jagdeo who is head of Cabinet and of State to decide on such a matter.
The nation became aware that the CANU employees would be subjected to the tests a few weeks ago, when Jagdeo said at a press conference that the officers had already done the tests and at that time, all he said was that the unit will undergo certain changes based on the results of those tests.
However, as a subsequent press conference, Jagdeo said those who had failed the test would be fired. The tests, he said, were being done to ensure that those who made up the unit were persons of integrity and so the unit could properly fight drug trafficking.
The President was questioned as to whether his government was prepared for any legal battle as a result of the sackings and he promptly responded in the affirmative. He had added that the unit’s employees were hired on contract and so the government reserved the right to terminate the contracts, even without the polygraph tests.
The parliamentary opposition has since frowned the government decision to use the tests as a basis to fire CANU staff.
