The Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region One (Barima-Waini) has denied reports that the administration indiscriminately fired several sweeper-cleaners, who had been attached to schools within the Moruca Sub-Region but had not been paid for work done.
Stabroek News was informed that six head teachers within the Morcua district were ordered to “send home” sweeper-cleaners from their respective schools. The sweeper-cleaners were reportedly not paid for a number of months and were sent home without any information as to when they will be paid.
The schools that the sweeper-cleaners were sent home from were identified as Santa Rosa Secondary, Karaburi Primary, St Nicholas Primary, Warapoka Primary, Kamwatta Primary and Kwebanna Primary.
When contacted, Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley told Stabroek News that the issue of non-payment of the sweeper-cleaners was only raised at the regional level a few weeks ago and that immediate steps were put in place to rectify the situation.
“The accusation that we fired the sweeper-cleaners is far from the truth. What happened is that we have a number of persons who were attached to schools in the Moruca Sub-Region as cleaners and they were not paid for a long period of time, owing to the fact that procedures were not followed to ensure that employment was done proper.
“So to avoid any further arrears being incurred or them not being paid, what we would have asked for at the level of the RDC is for these persons’ [employment] to be put on hold until we sort out the payments that is already owed to them. When that is sorted we will put them on in a proper employment structure and they will resume duties,” he said.
Ashley maintained that the six sweeper-cleaners were not dismissed. He said that the temporary hold on their employment was communicated to the head teachers.
When asked how the sweeper-cleaners ended up in this situation, Ashley explained that the Regional Education Officer instructed them to start working without going through the proper channels.
“What the REDO did was to instruct the cleaners to start working without any approval from the Regional Administration and as such they were not added to the payroll. We were not even aware that they were working so when we became aware we started to put systems in place. We are working to ensure that they get paid and we have a proper employment structure for them to have them on the job.
“Currently, the Region is awaiting approval from the Ministry of Finance to facilitate the payments and we would have made recommendations to the Public Service Ministry to have them put in the proper system. So we are hoping that this is resolved by the 30th of this month [September] so that they can resume duties,” the Regional Chair explained.
The Regional Chair is urging the sweeper-cleaners to not be swayed by persons with sinister motives. He said that they will regain employment and be paid the monies that are owed to them. When asked if he can give a ballpark figure of the amount owed to the sweeper-cleaners, Ashley said that some of the cleaners were on the job since March so the amount varies.
