Is this how the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal plans to develop Guyana?
Dear Editor,
The Preamble to the Guyana Constitution states: “WE THE PEOPLE OF THE CO-OPERATIVE REPUBLIC OF GUYANA, the proud heirs of the indomitable spirit and unconquerable will of our forefathers who by their sacrifices, their blood and their labour made rich and fertile and bequeathed to us as our inalienable patrimony for all time this green land of Guyana…”
We were shocked to learn that although the construction of the Marriott Hotel is being paid for by the taxpayers, yet the contractor, Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) cannot hire our labour to do our work. How on earth can Guyana develop when most of the construction jobs to build the Marriot Hotel, the Airport Project and the Amaila Falls are being shipped off to Chinese families?
Let the truth be told, this is not anti-Chinese bashing at all, but the exportation of taxpayers’ wealth out of the country and at the same time violating the fundamental right of Guyanese workers by the PPP. Is this how the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal plans to develop Guyana?
The Chinese came to town and all of a sudden Guyanese workers are not skilled or qualified enough to work at the Marriott Hotel. This is the garbage that Winston Brassington has told Guyanese.
But to add insult to injury, the expected last line of defence for the workers in the PPP, the Minister Gopaul was most disrespectful to the workers with his comments on the Marriott Labour Relations Crisis.
He said that “while Guyanese workers may not be seen regularly on the site, they were involved at every stage of the project and have been providing a significant portion of the resources needed for the construction of the hotel.”
What kind of “kock and bull” story is this? This Gopaul propaganda flies in the face of honesty. Gopaul and the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal should act maturely and tell the nation that they have made a huge mistake and correct the wrong and let us move on.
All this infantile and weak propaganda will only rile up the people to despise the PPP even more.
As a former Union Leader, Gopaul has all but abandoned the rights of the Guyanese workers with his silly comment. He has now set precedence on the management of labour relations in Guyana by selling his soul to his petty-bourgeois paymasters.
Thank you Minister of Labour Gopaul for enthusiastically stacking the chips against the poor and the working class, something that is clearly outside of your mandate as a minister. Your actions today reconciles with your action in the 90s, when you burned Cheddi Jagan’s effigy. You are a true ambassador of this new Jagdeo/Ramotar PPP; burners of all the principles of Cheddi Jagan.
Might we humbly remind the Minister, who should know better, that in the Commonwealth, the role of the Minister of Labour is clearly defined as one who “improves the working conditions and the quality of life of workers” through …… among other things “….promoting skill development and employment opportunities.”
How can Minister Gopaul, with a clear conscious, allow a contract to be negotiated with the Chinese contractor that imports labour in Guyana where the unemployment rate is estimated at 18% of the labour force? This immoral practice cannot stand in light of the fact that youth employment (aged 18-35 years) is estimated at some 40% of the labour force.
The destiny of the poor and the working class has now been pawned permanently by the Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal. This is the only explanation we have for this degenerated anti-working class attitude by the PPP, which has made it abundantly clear that they do not care about the poor and the working class. The Jagdeo/Ramotar cabal has completely ignored the principles of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and they have totally violated the principles of the founder leader of the PPP, Dr Jagan with respect to workers.
We would like to encourage the leaders of the TUC to lodge a formal complaint to the ILO against this corrupt and uncaring Jagdeo/Ramotar regime if they are ever to fulfill the mandate set for them by Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow.
These actions by the Minister of Labour and his compatriots in the den of economic gangsters have set a precedence that must never be allowed to succeed. Even the PPP boogieman–Burnham, always remind the people that he had protested against ALCAN in the pre-independence years when they attempted similar anti-working class strategies. How more disgraceful can these gangsters become, when even a man who rigged the people’s right to elect their Government, is seen as morally superior to them?
The saddest thing in all of this is that the entire PPP regime, by giving the Chinese companies the authority to hire Chinese workers, have failed to make Guyana a better place for its workers. From our observation, the Political Opposition ought to interrogate Mr. Brassington, as promised by the leader of the AFC, Mr. Ramjattan. We are convinced that if the Opposition does this in a judicious manner, some will be charged for financial criminality, corruption and fraud.
In closing we encourage the TUC leadership to seize this golden opportunity to become relevant once again to their true mandate of advocating for workers’ rights. This is not an opportunity to pass the buck to the Political Opposition; this is a workers issue to which the full support from the politicians is necessary. Over to you Mr. Norris Witter and Mr. Lincoln Lewis; this is your battlefield; stand your ground and fight like true leaders of the workers! The time is now.
Dr. Asquith Rose and Harish S. Singh