Dear Editor,
I want to address what is turning out to be a misunderstanding of my personal position regarding the recently approved motion in the National Assembly vis-à-vis the restoration of the Critchlow Labour College’s annual subvention. I demitted office as President of the Guyana Trades Union Congress in October 2013, and consequently, I have no authority to speak for or on behalf of the executive of that body.
During my tenure as GTUC President I held no discussion with the political opposition on the subject of the restoration of the college’s annual subvention. There had been no exchange between myself and the political opposition during the months after I demitted office either. On the day the motion was approved in the National Assembly I had attended the sitting solely to keep abreast of the debate on the Anti-Money Laundering & Countering of Terrorism Bill and during the recess – after the motion for the restoration of the college’s annual subvention had already been approved – I was approached by AFC Leader and Member of Parliament Khemraj Ramjattan and made aware of the development. The entire matter of the motion was news to me. It was the first time I had heard of it. After a brief chat with Mr Ramjattan during which I was not fully apprised of the conditionalities for the restoration of the subvention, I expressed the hope that it could be a step in the right direction. In retrospect, it may have been more prudent to have withheld comment when approached by Mr Ramjattan to avoid any possible distortion of my opinion on the subject of the subvention.
As a trade unionist who is aware of the intrigues concerning the management of the Critchlow Labour College, it is my opinion that the pre-conditions for the restoration of the annual subvention are ludicrous.
Yours faithfully,
Norris Witter
