The staff of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) is not being paid on time and Chairman of its Board Jocelyn Dow on Friday said it is owed millions.
After a presentation on the proficiency of the GFC’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) project, Dow was questioned on complaints by GFC staff on emoluments and not being paid their salaries and wages, uniform allowances, and outstanding leave payments, among others.
“The fact that workers have not been paid… people have not been paid their gratuity in 18 months, so it is not on one level, it is on the whole level. I would hate to tell you that we know some of our staff are being charged penalties for late payments when their salaries are deferred. This is a terribly unfair thing,” Dow said, while adding that she hopes the “noise in the press” would encourage Central Government to give the commission some money.