From June, 2016 to the present, the University of Guyana (UG) has spent over $556 million, and US$822,000 (equivalent to $164.4 million), garnered through the Government of Guyana, private funding and spending from the University’s coffers, on improvements to its facilities.
This was stated by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, who spoke to Stabroek News yesterday morning, amid ongoing disagreement between the administration and the institution’s two unions – The University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU).
Recently, the unions charged that the administration continues to spend wastefully to host events that are not related to the functioning of the University, while certain essentials such as toilet paper are lacking, and some of the school’s facilities are still in dire need of rehabilitative works.
The unions had also highlighted that the administration was facilitating the building of new schools and buildings but could not find monies to approve salary increases for this year; an issue that has been plaguing both parties since the beginning of the year, and which has fueled several picketing actions.
Moreover, more recently, the unions issued a statement condemning the reversal of an earlier decision by the UG Council to send Griffith on standard end-of-contract leave.
They related that Pro-Chancellor Major-General (Ret’d) Joseph Singh, said that a Council decision to send Griffith on end-of-contract leave had been reversed and that the Vice Chancellor would be paid in lieu of leave.
The unions charged that the cash-strapped university can ill-afford this course of action.
During yesterday’s interview, Griffith was questioned on the decision by the school’s Council to reverse his end-of-contract leave and asked whether he now has an unfair advantage over persons interested in taking up the helm of the University.
“The contract and tradition is that whoever is incumbent has an opportunity to say, ‘I want to continue’. If that person wants to continue, the Council looks at that. If the person does not want to continue, then it is open. It is not a question of unfair advantage, it’s a question of what the contract says,” he said, while stating that the unions are misinformed and misdirected and their only objective is having him removed from the helm of the institution.
Griffith also said that he is “absolutely proud” of what he has accomplished in the three years that he has been Vice-Chancellor.
Griffith said that since his tenure began in June, 2016, the University has expended $556,845,787 million and US $822,000, for improvements to their facilities.
According to Griffith, through the Government of Guyana and the Ministry of Education, they have since spent $305,085,911 on various projects, including the construction of the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation, a new parking lot and road rehabilitation, a new facilities maintenance building and the new Math and Science building, among others.
Soil centre
From their own coffers, they were able to expend on the procurement of various items, as well as on the construction and rehabilitation of buildings.
Additionally, through privately raised donations, they were able to spend $29,836,890 and US$822,000, which helped to cater for the renovation of the Cheddi Jagan Lecture Hall, the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Research and the Nand Persaud Soil Centre at the Johns Campus, among other things.
“The accusation that I should’ve been taking money we raised privately and give it to salary increases defies the understanding of how fundraising works. That project that led to the opening of the Jay and Sylvia Sobhraj Centre was not given to us. The donors used that money, they paid the contractors, they brought in the equipment from New York and the University was just a beneficiary. When we have the Turkeyen and Tain talks, the contributions that we get for that is what people pay for. People pay for specific things and no donor is going to give you money to give to salary increases to people,” Griffith contended, while again denying an accusation by the unions that he spent $400,000 for a dinner for eight persons.
Larger agenda
He said that the claims by the unions are linked to a larger agenda of removing him from the helm of the University and emphasised that from his first day in office, he made it clear that he welcomes salary increases, which the University cannot currently afford.
He also noted that salary increases should not be discussed independently of issues such as late grades by lecturers, performance, or a collective bargaining agreement.
The unions had also accused the school’s administration of tripling the executives’ salaries since 2013 from a wage bill of $60 million to $180 million.
Griffith pointed out that when the unions made the accusations, they failed to provide context as to the makeup of the executive body in 2013 as compared to present.
He said that in 2012, a report was done by Hamilton and Associates that recommended the modification of the executive body, as well as the need for salaries to be increased.
“It argued that a University of this size, having over 8,000 students and staff, having one VC and one Deputy-VC cannot manage the University’s affairs. It argued for four and when Professor Nigel Harris became Chancellor, he undertook a transformational task force and built on what the report said,” Griffith stated.
According to the information he provided, in 2014, the executive body comprised of six members. Last year, it grew to eight, including a Pro-Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, three Deputy Vice Chancellors, a Registrar, a Bursar and a Director of Strategic Initiatives.
He said that they were also authorised to hire a lawyer but have been unable to do so and that the unions looking at the increase in the executives’ wage bill without context is “maliciously missing the point.”
He also said that the executives are not on the same salary scale as the other staff of the University and the figures also cater for the increases in salaries over the years, as well as to the 19 other allowances that are attached.
The unions have also complained about the conditions of the facilities, and Griffith said that it should not be examined in the present context.
“This University has had terrible facilities for years. But you need to walk the campus, you cannot look at it in the context of one snapshot and not the broad perspective. Do we have issues? Absolutely,” Griffith said, while noting that the issues cannot be fixed overnight and there is a need for funding.
However, he said that if persons look at the growth the University has gone through in the last decade, then they will see progress. He also said that they are making concerted efforts to improve all of the facilities and when questioned about how much money they would need to completely alleviate all of their issues, he said “billions of dollars.”
According to Griffith, for last year, they spent over $3.4 million on jumbo tissue, paper towels and hand soap, and so far for this year, they have spent close to $1.3 million.
For water, which the unions had pointed out the University is lacking, the information Griffith provided showed that for the year so far, they have spent a total of $362,000 on 27,000 gallons of water.
For toners and ink cartridges, so far for the year, the University has spent approximately $2.9 million.
Currently, the University of Guyana, both Turkeyen and Berbice campuses, have a total number of 8,346 students, a 6.7% growth over the previous year.
