Dear Editor,
I have observed within the central districts of Georgetown, a flurry of activity in terms of the cleaning of drains, weeding and leveling of parapets and the replanting of trees that were lost over time.
My concern has to do with the health, safety and welfare of the workers carrying out these remedial works.
Having spoken to a number of them at the Bourda cemetery and in the Lacytown area, I learnt that they were not workers of the City Council but rather were hired by individuals who were given contracts by Council to carry out these works.
These workers who were doing a very painstaking and first-class job, complained that they were being paid low wages, were given no protective gear, were not covered by any insurance scheme, did not have access to any disinfectants, in fact they were without a simple first aid kit or drinking water to alleviate dehydration in the sweltering heat. This is in spite of the persons who were given the cleaning contracts by Council being paid tens of millions of dollars.
Now surely the Georgetown City Council must appreciate the need to build into the contracts being doled out, provisions to ensure that suitable personal protective equipment must be provided to the workers, that must include waterproof/ abrasion-resistant gloves, footwear, eye and respiratory protection. Face visors are particularly important against splashes. That they also provide adequate welfare facilities, including clean water, soap, nailbrushes, disposable paper towels, and where heavy contamination is foreseeable such as the Bourda cemetery, showers. Also portable toilet facilities should be provided.
For injuries which will inadvertently occur because of broken bottles, rusty nails, and other unmentionables lying in the canals and alleyways, it should be mandatory that the workers are provided with adequate first-aid equipment, including clean water or sterile wipes for cleansing wounds, and a supply of sterile, waterproof, adhesive dressings.
Not because it is not City Council workers doing the work, should the Council be exonerated morally or legally from ensuing the proper taxes are paid by the contractors, that the NIS laws are respected, that the occupational health and safety act of Guyana is upheld and that proper wages and premiums are paid to these cleaners.
Yours faithfully,
Mark Roopan
