Dear Editor,
My interest was piqued when I read the October 10, 2023, Stabroek News, and I noticed Minister of Public Works, Honourable Bishop Juan Edghill, coming to the defence of General Manager of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, Mr Wayne Watson. From what I read in the newspaper, the Minister has affirmed his full confidence in the gentleman as he pointed to several apparent achievements under Mr Watson’s watch. As someone who was formerly associated with the Bridge, I must share I cannot see eye to eye with some of what the Minister shared.
In life, I have always come to learn that people have their positive attributes as well as their negative ones. Certainly, Minister Edghill as a longstanding man of the cloth, would well be familiar with such human traits. While it is hard to argue with the achievements under the tenure of Mr Watson, which the Minister outlined, it certainly would be naïve for us to believe that these were solely and wholly the doing of the goodly gentleman. If the Minister checks, he would realise some of Mr Watson’s ‘achievements’ predated his arrival. Moreover, the achievements that occurred under Mr Watson’s ‘leadership’ were not without their fair share of controversy, and some came at high costs in both a financial and human sense. Much of what that Minister touted are normal and usual tasks of the bridge. They were done in the past without any sort of fanfare or celebration. Is the Minister really extending plaudits to the gentleman for doing his job? I thought that was why he was paid handsomely.
But the good Minister may want to check what those achievements cost the Bridge. On many occasions, the gentleman, seemingly “a bull in a China shop”, ignored, with no apparent justification, the advice of many personnel with considerable experience. Some of those decisions turned out to be costly misadventures. But where Mr Watson, I believe, particularly excels is his leadership of the staff. He has highlighted his academic prowess and deserves a round of applause. But despite his qualifications, he has done something that no other General Manager ever did. He has caused the agency to haemorrhage many of its skilled and experienced staff. According to Mr Watson, such persons were time wasters. But those very ‘time wasters’ kept the Bridge afloat and operable all the time? That seems amiss, but it seems the gentleman may have a tendency to make a mountain out of a molehill.
As the Kaieteur News pointed out, as many as 140 persons have left the job in 2½ years under Mr Watson’s leadership. Is everyone aiming for greener pastures, as Mr Watson highlighted? Certainly, men and women with considerable years of service to the Bridge would not just pick up themselves and leave. I urge the Honourable Minister to examine the data for himself, the data may be revealing. He should also seek to find out what is the reason/s persons have departed and are departing at a rapid pace. Even some friendly comrades had to leave. He may be shocked at what is transpiring under his watch as Minister. He may also want to find out what sparked a celebration after the incumbent left his former employ. He may also want to compare the turnover between the Asphalt Plant and the Bridge. Maybe it is the Asphalt Plant employees are not as ambitious as their Bridge counterparts.
Mr Minister, I urge you to let the bleeding stop and the healing begin. You are an honourable man and a man of the people. Let better sense prevail and do some checking you may find that the picture is not as glorious as it is depicted.
Yours faithfully,
Lloyd Peters
