The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) on Thursday urged University of Guyana Chancellor, Professor Compton Bourne, to intervene in the present Turkeyen Campus shutdown protest, which followed the dismissal of lecturer Freddie Kissoon.
The University of Guyana Students Society (UGSS), the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) are supporting the shutdown, which is part of a joint “Operation Rescue UG” initiative.
According to a press statement from GTUC General Secretary Lincoln Lewis, the UG Chancellor “cannot longer remain silent when by statute his is the responsibility to lead the university into productive life, including having systems activated to address and resolve differences.”
According to Lewis, Bourne “has to be mindful that as he continues to be silent, his silence is not interpreted that he is awaiting instructions external to the university before he executes his statutory obligations.”
The GTUC General Secretary contended that the Chancellor “has to intervene to disabuse the perception he is not acting on his own or that he supports the transgressions taking place, more so given the PPP Council Members’ statement of what led to the contract termination and who voted in favour of, the denial of supporting the said vote by Duane Edwards, President of the University Students Society, and other conflicting reports for the reason(s) of the termination.”
Lewis also argued that “any failure by the university administration to resolve the impasse and allowing the politicians, the president included, to find a solution in this case, will confirm the allegations that the termination of the contracts of Mr. Freddie Kissoon and others is political.”
He is also of the view that the continued impasse at UG questions the capacity of institutions to address and resolve issues at this critical juncture of Guyana’s development.
