The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) has requested that Finance Minister Winston Jordan urgently order a “scientific assessment” of the safety of the complex currently housing the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) at Camp Street, in light of health concerns highlighted by workers.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the GPSU said it had visited the complex to see conditions and to secure the views of the workers, following observations made by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GRA, Rawle Lucas, regarding the conditions that obtain at the complex.
In August, Lucas had told Stabroek News that “there are concerns about the structural integrity of the building, which leaks like a sieve when it rains.”
Stabroek News has since learned that as a result of the leaks, mould has developed on the walls and staffers say it is affecting their health.
The GPSU said it engaged the workers on the presence of mould in parts of the building and on conditions inside the building in circumstances of inclement weather.
“Of particular concern to the GPSU was the view expressed by some workers that there may well be a nexus between conditions inside the complex and the state of their health,” it said, while noting that the union has already gone on record as saying that such issues might have manifested and must be addressed by government.
As a result, the union said it has written Jordan requesting that “an immediate ‘scientific’ assessment of the safety and health status of the complex be undertaken by the competent authority and that that assessment include clear and definitive pronouncements regarding the safety and health implications of the continued occupancy of the complex by the GRA employees.”
The union further called for the issue to be addressed with the utmost urgency as there is “currently little if any knowledge as to whether or not the present state of affairs may amount to a safety and health emergency.”
