Dear Editor,
I write on behalf of the current and former time wasters of the Demerara Harbour Bridge. At least, that’s the term the General Manager used to describe his workforce. The Minister, who I consider a fair individual, has said the manager is doing a good job. But the success the Minister talks about was not done by a superhuman, it was done by workers working in the rain, sun and dew night and day to ensure that the bridge is operable. To label us or some of us as time wasters is simply an indictment on our supposed superb manager. It tells many of us how he thinks about us and how much he values us. Of course, many of us have been there before him and kept the bridge afloat though traffic was going up and it was getting older.
The reality, Editor, is that working at the Harbour Bridge has become a nightmare. Drones and cameras watch us like we are in prison. We cannot even take a few moments of break, or else we will get a warning letter. No vehicle can break down on the road, or we cannot encounter any difficulty when we come to work, because even if we are a few moments late, we get a letter and are sent home for the day without pay. Where is the empathy and compassion?
It’s not only the ordinary workers feeling the pain, but the people at the top are being squeezed too. Many of our engineers have left the job, and others are silenced. Just a few days ago, an outstanding officer was hounded out of the organisation blamed for something they did not do.
Editor, we ask the Minister to please let us have justice and fairness at the Harbour Bridge.
Sincerely,
(Name and Addressed Withheld)