Dear Editor,
In a letter you published for me a few months ago I described the delay on the part of the powers that be to return my transport which was pledged as security for my daughter, who is a medical doctor, to leave Guyana. The transport is still with these ‘powers.’
After my letter was published it would seem as if the persons who are responsible for holding up my transport were a bit peeved at me for making it known to the public, and so now it is a game of ‘who mo baad.’ I made an issue out of it and so I am now going to suffer for fighting for my own rights.
The way I understood it was that I was simply giving the Ministry of Health and the Public Service Ministry (PSM) a surety. The said surety was to ensure that my daughter returned to Guyana after a period abroad. Now that happened since April 8, 2013 and now I am being given the royal runaround simply to uplift my transport.
The whole process should be dealt with in this manner: Once my daughter returned to work her immediate supervisor would issue a ‘resumption letter’ or a form is completed and sent to the Ministry of Health indicating that she has in fact resumed her duties. The Ministry of Health then would send the resumption letter to the PSM, which would then issue a letter to me or someone authorized by me. This would be taken to the Ministry of Finance where the transport is lodged and so could be picked up.
The formalities have long, long ago been completed, and yet my transport is still held by the authorities.
Now, after I made my plight known, bureaucrats are playing hardball with my transport. Is this how they expect the youths to feel wanted or needed? No one will pledge security for any one of these young doctors who have studied so hard and returned to serve their country when all they want is to spend some time abroad. And to add insult to injury, I just saw a certificate issued to my daughter by the Berbice Regional Health Authority, which reads ‘Outstanding Woman of 2014.’ I wonder what that means. It would seem to me as though this certificate is saying, forget the transport, keep this instead.
I was made to understand that I have a “big mouth” and that I like to “write letters,” so let’s see who will give me my transport. Editor, these persons are trying to make criminals out of honest, hard-working people. Well I will wait exactly five days after the publication of this letter, and then I will go to the Ministry of Finance for my transport – personally.
Yours faithfully,
Charrandass Persaud
Editor’s note
We are sending a copy of this letter to the Ministry of Finance for any comment they might wish to make.