Among the 288 contract workers employed at the Ministry of the Presidency, 40 are drivers, 20 are community officers and 18 are engaged in various communication and publicity fields.
This is according to information provided to Parliament by Minister of State Joseph Harmon in response to a question by Opposition Member of Parliament Jennifer Westford.
Westford, who served as public service minister in the former PPP/C government on Monday requested the names, designations, salaries and non-salary benefits of the ministry’s 288 contract workers to be provided in writing.
Westford also asked that the minister provide the names and salaries of the four highest paid and the four lowest paid workers among them.
At the time Harmon indicated that the four highest paid contracted workers, were Andrew Bishop, Guyana’s lead negotiator to the UN climate change convention, who is earning $1,035,000 per month; Floyd Levi, head of the E-Governance Unit, who is earning $930,000 per month; Colonel (rtd) Chabilall Ramsarup, head of the Civil Defence Commission, who earns $808,000 per month; and Janelle Christian, the head of the Climate Change Office, who earns $700,000 per month. The four lowest paid workers are three cleaners and a handyman, who each earn $50,000.
In a written presentation to the house yesterday the designations, salaries and non-salary benefits of the other workers were provided though they were not named.
The ministry noted in the correspondence that “a decision was taken by the administration of the ministry to omit the names of the employees in an effort to safeguard the individual employee’s confidentiality.”
The employees’ data was provided under the headings of 21 divisions namely Cabinet, Confidential Secretariat, Minister of State Secretariat, E-Governance, Public Service Staff College, Sustainable Development Asset Recovery (SARU), Protocol, Climate Change/Environment, Political Affairs, Press and Publicity, Community Development Council, Civil Defence Commission, Office of the Advisor on National Security, Land Registry, Youth Empowerment, Administration, Maintenance, Records Management, Human Resources Management, Field Audit, Budget and Finance, Social Cohesion.
The ministry indicated that between the periods of the 2015 and 2016 budgets 22 contracted employees were removed from the payroll and one hundred and forty-eight employees were hired indicating a net increase of 126 employees. It is assumed that these numbers reference all the indicated divisions.
Of note is the fact that the Department of Social Cohesion under the stewardship of Minister Amna Ally has 14 contracted employees, three of whom serve as liaison officers to the minister who is also served by two special assistants, a confidential secretary and a personal assistant. As is the case with all other contracted employees the government has given no indications as to why they were hired on contract rather than on the fixed establishment.
The E-governance division has 3 contracted employees while the yet to be established Public Service staff college has 11 contracted employees inclusive of two executive directors and a director. One executive director earns a monthly salary of $530,000 with allowances at $30,000 while the other earns $500,000 a month with allowances of $195,00 per month.
There was no indication from the Minister in his budget presentation as to how long these individuals or any of the others hired in this manner would remain employed on contract
Also noted is that both the Director of Sport and the Manager of the National Stadium at Providence are listed as being paid under the Ministry of Presidency though their functions are executed under the Ministry of Education’s Department of Youth, Culture and Sport.
Minister of State Harmon has maintained in the face of repeated question that the increase in the number of contract workers within his ministry is due to the merger of several previously separate departments and ministries.
“What we are seeing, basically, is a coming together of several ministries and departments and, therefore, the hiring under those departments were catered under the Ministry of the Presidency. They were hired under the authority of the Ministry of the Presidency. So, we have this figure spread across several areas,” he said in the house on Monday. He has not indicated however why these individuals with designations ranging from cook to cleaner, handyman and driver were hired on contract rather than on the fix establishment.
When questioned about the dismantling of the contract worker system he indicated that it is the intention of the administration to “gradually merge all of these persons who are on contract into the traditional public service.”
Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix in responding to the same question said that the administration “will eventually return to the old system of advertisement and giving everyone notice in the newspaper of the vacancy” even as he stressed that it is the government who will decide when this will happen as it will not be “forced”.
While in opposition the members of the ruling APNU+AFC had repeatedly condemned the propensity of the previous administration for hiring person on contract to work in the public service.
A promise was made to “strip and dismantle” the contract system for state employees as part of the efforts to stop the destruction of security of tenure and undermining of the unions.
President of the Guyana Public Service Union Patrick Yarde recently told a Commission of Inquiry into the public service that “contracted employees operate at a disadvantage. Our position is that contract employment should be eliminated. They should go through a process that puts them on the permanent fixed establishment. The public service is a career service in which employees should have security of tenure. The public service needs to be regularised and the contracted services which confuse and disrupt this system should be removed.”
An evaluation of the 2016 budget estimates by accounting firm, Ram and McRae says that an additional 1,000 contract employees appear to have been hired by the government.
