As the Ministry of Labour continues to investigate fatal industrial accidents which occurred in 2014, one woman has been waiting now for a year for word on the exact circumstances of the death of her son and whether she will gain any financial settlement.
Wendella Johnson said that she has been awaiting compensation following the electrocution of her son Ulric Johnson, 23, of Leeds, Number 50 Village, Corentyne, who was a technician attached to the Skeldon Sugar Estate. Johnson was electrocuted while cleaning a transformer in a boiler at the estate on January 27, 2014. According to Johnson, she has since hired a lawyer to advise her. “These people [Guyana Sugar Corporation management] disappoint me,” she said, as she explained that her son died on the job.
Johnson tearfully recalled the last moments she had with her son before he died. She said that on the day before he died, they celebrated her birthday and were planning for what would have been his 24th birthday two days after hers. The emotional woman described her son as a quiet and hardworking man, who was loved by the entire community.
It was reported that Johnson was pronounced dead on arrival at the Skeldon Hospital. Johnson was wearing protective clothing (a helmet, gloves, safety overalls and boots) at the time of the accident and was said to have had approximately five years of experience in the field.
In an interview with Stabroek News at his office on December 31, 2014, Labour Minister Dr NK Gopaul had said that all of the fatal accidents are being investigated.
It is unclear why Ulric Johnson’s case in relation to his employment at GuySuCo is still to be resolved.
Meanwhile, Patricia Kirton told Stabroek News that she is still awaiting compensation from the company her son Leroy Francis Harris worked for at the time of his death. On December 4, 2014, Harris, 25, of Plaisance Squatting Area, East Coast Demerara, was electrocuted while passing a flex pipe that came into contact with a live wire attached to the building he was working on.
Kirton said the only money the company gave her was $400,000 for wake and funeral expenses.
“I would like to know who will compensate me for my son,” said the grieving mother, who vented her frustration at having to “run around” for word on plans by the company to compensate the family. “They only calling me for his death certificate,” she said. Moreover, the woman said that she is yet to get a “straight” story on the events leading up to Harris’ death. Kirton further mentioned that the compensation is for Harris’ infant son, whom she takes care of.
Meanwhile, relatives of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) technician Vijai Gaznabbi, who was electrocuted while working on a utility pole, told this newspaper that the matter is still under investigation and that they wished not to be contacted further in connection with his death.
The 26-year-old who resided at Lot 33 Joseph Pollydore Street, Lodge, was electrocuted after he came into contact with a live wire at Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara on November 3, 2014. According to reports, Gaznabbi was seen falling from a utility pole.
It was unclear whether Gaznabbi was wearing protective gear. However, in a statement, GT&T said that staff are provided with safety gear relevant to their area of work and implored to use it on every assignment.
Attempts made to contact the relatives of BOSAI apprentice mechanic Bertram Pollard, who died on December 24, 2014 after being crushed by a truck he was repairing, proved futile.
According to an eyewitness, who was operating a heavy-duty truck in the immediate vicinity, Pollard was servicing an excavator, when the operator of the excavator asked him to stop so he could take some material to the dump, which was not far away. The eyewitness added that Pollard walked about ten yards from the excavator and placed the servicing equipment on the ground.
Just then, another truck which had been idling adjacent to the excavator began to move slowly towards the dump site, hitting Pollard on his left shoulder, causing him to fall into the path of the front wheel of the truck.
