“Mr Ramjattan is not honourable” – 24-year-old Lindener

Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan

–  allegedly dismissed, embarrassed, chased by Vice President 

BY MICHAEL YOUNGE

“I mean no disrespect to our Ministers and persons with the title “Honourable” attached to their names, but so far, from what have happened…I don’t think Mr Ramjattan should have the title “Honourable”. At this point, I think it was given loosely because there was no honour in what Mr Ramjattan did. His actions towards me, they were no actions depicting honour, integrity, transparency, accountability and these sorts of things. He’s there to serve and he didn’t act the way a person who has the Nation’s interest at heart, who has youths at heart and all these things”.

Alex Hilkin

Those were the words of 24-year-old Alex Hilkin who hails from the mining town of Linden and says that Vice President and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan is “anything but honourable” as he told a horrifying story of how he was treated, embarrassed and chased by the public official after he stood up for his rights following a decision to dismiss him from his job.

Hilkin, speaking with Guyana Times on Friday during an exclusive interview, almost broke down in tears as he called on Ramjattan to pay him what he owes him as part of a severance package that he is allegedly entitled to, having worked for  Ramjattan’s law firm for over three years.

The young man says that following the May 11 Elections, Ramjattan changed and had the employees attached to his private law firm hanging in hyperspace as uncertainty loomed about their continued employment, given his appointment to the Executive branch of Government as a Vice President and Minister of National Security. In his new position he would be earning $11,135,164 annually.

He said that for over three months, the staff at the Chambers made several attempts to speak with Ramjattan about the operation of the law firm which was being neglected but were only told that their salaries would be paid up to a certain point as attempts are being made to have another lawyer assume responsibility for the office.

Hilkin said that another Attorney, Shonella Glenn was pinpointed to take over and had agreed to look after the affairs of the Chambers following a meeting with Ramjattan but soon after experienced severe difficulty in meeting the overhead and other operating expenses of the Chambers.

He alleged that given the conundrum that the staff encountered, they met with that Attorney and agreed on a formula for paying staff and dealing with other matters in the absence of Ramjattan’s presence and daily directorship of the affairs of his legal chambers.

The young man, who worked as Ramjattan’s Legal Clerk and Driver over a three-year period and throughout the elections campaign, said he turned up the Monday after that discussion to find a letter on his desk informing him that as of August 3, his services were terminated as the Chambers could not afford to pay all the staff, particularly him.

He said he spoke with the Attorney and asked if this is how things were done and whether Ramjattan was informed about the situation.

“And she said ‘No Alex, I admit that I went about things the wrong way.’ But then she further went on to say that she spoke with Mr Ramjattan that morning of August 3rd as well as the day before, August 2nd, the Sunday. I asked her the question several times, ‘You spoke to Mr Ramjattan? He knows about this termination?’

Her words were, ‘He knows you are going to be terminated, but…. Mr Ramjattan instructed me that you are to call him. He has two vacancies at his Ministry, the Ministry of Public Security, he has two vacancies there and you’re to call him regarding being placed somewhere there.’  I said, ‘okay then’, I left her office, stepped outside and the call was made to Mr Ramjattan.”

Hilkin, who now is unemployed since August and resides at Kitty, said he got the shock of his life when he placed the call to Mr Ramjattan upon the instruction of the Attorney.

“I said, ‘Good Morning Mr Ramjattan’. He said ‘Good Mornign’, and I said ‘I was asked to call you’. He said ‘About what?’ This is his exact posture and everything. I said, ‘I came in this morning, and I noticed a termination letter.’ He said, ‘Oh, yes…yes… the gyul she she cyan afford to pay both ayo.’ I said ‘okay, so what now?’ He said, ‘Well, yuh got to go look for a job.’ I said ‘okay’ and he said, “okay. Now take  care, bye.” And that was it. No mention of him having any vacancy there at his Ministry, no encouraging words as to say, I’m going to try and find a solution to this. Because he knows, these things just don’t…I mean, they obviously happen, but it’s very strange that he was done”, Hilkin related.

He didn’t give up there. He was encouraged by his co-workers to go and meet Ramjattan face to face to have the matter clarified as everyone was in disbelief.

Chased, embarrassed

The young man related: “We got into his private room and we spoke. I handed him the letter and he just glanced at it and said, ‘Okay, yeah… this is wuh happening.’ So I said, ‘what now?’ Mr Ramjattan’s words to me were; ‘Well yuh gotta go look for a job.’

I said, ‘But Mr Ramjattan… what about severance? Is this the way things are done?’ Mr Ramjattan’s words were: ‘You have nothing to get.’  I said, ‘But Mr Ramjattan, before, you said to us directly that you don’t want to fire us because you know if you do, you’re going to have to pay us severance and you don’t want so we’re going to keep working. We’re going to see what happens and we’re going to keep working. Didn’t you say this?’ He said, ‘No, no, no…yuh ain’t entitled to no severance. Yuh gotta work fuh over five years’.”

Alex said that he decided to stand up to the new Vice President and again the situation took a turn for the worse.

“Throughout the campaign, it was me driving Mr Ramjattan, his son or whoever may have driven him a few times but majority of the time it was me. You could have seen this black face… I said, “But Mr Ramjattan, I was there with you throughout the elections.  You stood on the platform and you spoke of job creations, helping, and employment of youths, transparency, accountability, and all these things. How is then that all of these things are happening in your office? Your own office?’

And I looked him directly in the eyes, with my posture quite calm, not disrespectful in anyway but direct, and said, “Mr Ramjattan, these are the things you spoke of. How is then that all of these things are happening in your office?’. At this point, I guess I had no right to remind him of what he said or what he stood for , or I should say the things he said he stood for… apparently, I had no right to remind him.

Mr Ramjattan said, ‘Okay, this conversation come to an end now… leave my office.’ He proceeded to open his door… i said, “Mr Ramjattan… this… ”. He said, ‘No, no, no. Leave Alex, Leave my office!’ …about three or four times. He opened the door and said leave, and I calmly said okay and I said, ‘have a good day’ and I walked out. You could have seen his staff, as well as persons waiting there to see him… they were all shocked.”

The young man is claiming that he is owed over $200,000 in severance after visiting the Labour Ministry and speaking to someone there but he is scared that they will duck the matter and is unwilling to return.

He has retained a lawyer because he feels he was treated unjustly by Ramjattan and wants nothing but his entitlement.

“….without a doubt I made lots of sacrifices for him as my employer. I won’t base this in terms of working in the office as a legal clerk but on the weekends when he would have to go to places such as Orealla. We spent many days and nights in Berbice… Mr Ramjattan and I ate from the same plate… ate from the same pot. At his mother’s  home in #47 Village I slept in the same home, on the chair, in the bed at his mother’s residence.… while Mr Ramjattan is asleep or nodding, I am up ensuring that he reaches home safely. At the end of it I didn’t ask him for anything cause I would have felt that I did my part. I felt that I was part of a movement that was going to make a difference… and I told him that. And a day like today, it is clear that all these things were unappreciated and forgotten,” he said.

Ramjattan denies

When contacted on Saturday, Vice President Ramjattan sought to refute the story told by the young man.

He denied owing Hilkin any severance and told Guyana Times that his private Chambers were handed over to a junior Attorney who became the proprietor.

“When I handed over my Chambers, he was still fully employed”, Ramjattan explained, and made it clear that he could not be responsible for the young man’s dismissal as it was the act of the new Attorney.

“I cannot say if he did something and was summarily dismissed. I do not know”, Minister Ramjattan offered.

He said that it was quite unfortunate that Hilkin was going around making accusations against him as the young man knows full well that he was not the one to terminate his services.

Asked if he chased or asked the Lindener to leave his office when Hilkin attempted to find out what was happening with his employment, Ramjattan replied, “No. I never chased him. That is not true. He wanted me to find a job for him and I told him that I do not run an employment agency”.

The Vice President said he was previously contacted by another Attorney on the matter and he was upset that it was still brewing.

He would offer no other comments on the matter.

Calls to the young Attorney’s mobile phone also went unanswered on Saturday. When other attempts were made after contacting Ramjattan successfully, her cell was turned off.