Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed yesterday visited the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security office at Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara, and charged that several of the conditions over which Minister Vindhya Persaud had recently berated employees remained unchanged.
In a video posted to social media, Mohamed showed documents still being kept in cardboard boxes on the floor, an overgrown compound, what he said was an overflowing or leaking septic tank and a missing door in the women’s washroom.
Persaud had visited the office days earlier and publicly criticised employees over the manner in which citizens’ documents were being stored. During that visit, which was also recorded and posted online, she drew attention to files stuffed into cardboard boxes and left on the floor.
The minister had said that filing cabinets would be provided to the office.
However, during Mohamed’s visit, the documents appeared to remain in boxes on the floor and staff told him that the promised cabinets had not arrived.
“Now y’all ain’t get the filing cabinets?” Mohamed asked employees as he inspected the office.
“And I’m surprised that she didn’t even buy the filing cabinets for the Pouderoyen office,” he subsequently said.
Mohamed criticised Persaud’s treatment of the employees, saying she had embarrassed them publicly over shortcomings for which her ministry was responsible.
“The way in which she embarrassed the workers here just to get a couple clicks to post on social media—that’s not nice,” he said.
At the beginning of the video, Mohamed said the minister’s manner of addressing the employees had been inappropriate.
“That is not the way to speak to your staff or anyone else,” he said.
Mohamed walked around the compound and pointed to tall grass and weeds, including vegetation growing around water tanks and pipes. He also showed what he described as a defective septic system.
“The staff complain that they can’t even open the windows to get some fresh air,” he said, while complaining about a strong stench in the compound.
According to Mohamed, the office has no air conditioning and employees are forced to work with the windows closed because of the smell from the septic system. He said this left the interior hot and uncomfortable for both employees and members of the public.
“How are you all making out in this heat working here?” he asked the staff.
He said senior citizens and persons living with disabilities were also required to wait in the hot building while seeking government services.
Mohamed later showed what appeared to be a detached door at the women’s washroom. He said one of the female toilets had been left without a door and called on the ministry to correct the problem.
“This is the condition our public servants have to work under,” he said.
He urged Persaud to provide the employees with suitable working conditions, contending that workers would perform better if they were treated properly and supplied with the necessary equipment.
The Opposition Leader also said he would be monitoring whether any of the employees who spoke with him or allowed him to inspect the building would subsequently be transferred, dismissed or otherwise victimised.
“We are also watching closely to see whether the staff who cooperated with Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed during his visit will now face transfers, victimisation or dismissal,” an introduction accompanying the video said.
Mohamed further accused government ministers of staging social-media appearances as part of an internal competition to succeed President Irfaan Ali as the PPP’s presidential candidate.
He also called for public servants to receive a 50% salary increase, arguing that the country’s increased oil revenues should result in substantially improved wages and working conditions.
Kiskadee Watch had previously reported that Persaud visited the Pouderoyen office and rebuked employees over the storage of documents, with the exchange subsequently posted on social media. The minister had promised to send filing cabinets to the location after observing files in cardboard boxes.
Mohamed’s visit suggested that, up to yesterday, the promised cabinets had not arrived and that several broader problems affecting the building remained unresolved.
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