The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has rejected claims of it being consulted on the recent appointment of two members to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and it has also raised questions about the appointment process.
Referring to the establishment of the PSC as an “unfair and abusive” process, the union said yesterday that it was deliberately excluded.
The appointments of Carvil Duncan of the Guyana Labour Union (GLU) and Cecil Seepersaud of the Public Service Senior Staff Association (PSSSA) were frowned upon by GPSU since according to the union neither Duncan nor Seepersaud has affiliation with organizations that could reasonably entitle them, within the terms of the constitution, to fall under the description of “of bodies appearing to represent public officers or classes of public officers.”
GPSU said that there were no proper and fair consultations on the recent appointments, noting that its nominees, Vera Naughton and Charles Barker, have once more not found favour with the Committee on Appointments. “…The union finds it difficult to understand how Duncan and Seepersaud were favoured,” a statement from the GPSU said yesterday.
GPSU said that it was not involved in any consultation with the Committee on Appointments and disclosed that it received a letter from the Clerk of the National Assembly on March 22, 2010, requesting nominations of members to the PSC.
The union said it responded on April 12, 2010, noting that there was no further interaction between GPSU and the Committee. “There is clear difference between a mere request for nominees from a listed organization and involving that organization in a meaningful consultation process,” the union emphasized.
According to the GPSU, GLU was not previously consulted or recognized in constituting the membership of the PSC prior to the amendment of the constitution in 2003.
The union said also that the PSSSA was registered in 2002, and that this provided the opportunity for procedures which previously existed to be changed, undermined and manipulated in constituting the PSC to the exclusion of its membership.
The union charged that the principles of independence and impartiality of the PSC since its establishment have been eroded and undermined by political and partisan consideration, adding that the political directorate is seeking to control and subordinate institutions which under the constitution are designed to be neutral zones.
GPSU said it was forced to conclude that the GLU and PSSSA were specifically injected into the process for convenience with the intention of undermining its position and status, “in keeping with the ulterior and in our opinion unprincipled posture of the government.”
The union also dismissed statements in the National Assembly by AFC MP Sheila Holder and PPP/Civic MP Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, saying that only the myopic or one blinded by prejudice would consider the processes adopted by the Committee on Appointments as fair and reasonable. The Alliance For Change (AFC) supported the report from the Committee on Appointments prior to it being adopted in the Assembly; the main opposition PNCR-1G did not.
Further, the union called for an amendment to the constitution to redress what it termed the patent injustice inherent in the processes and procedures now followed in constituting the membership of the PSC.
“There is a crying need for restoration of equity and fairness in the system in order to ensure that public servants falling under the jurisdiction of the PSC are treated fairly and equitably.”
GPSU said also that it has since written the President and the Speaker of the National Assembly to draw their attention to the irregularities in the appointment process.
