Consequent upon a report in yesterday’s edition of the Kaieteur News titled, ‘Trade unionist protests deplorable condition at Labour Ministry’, Labour Minister Mr Manzoor felt constrained to pen a letter to the paper’s management so as to set the record straight. The following is his response in its entirety:

I MUST respond to the wickedness that your newspaper, Mr. Witter, along with political elements who work within the Labour Department are trying to perpetuate.

This article is nothing but a setup. How coincidental that KN just happens to be where Mr. Witter is with his one-man picket. How coincidental that Mr. Witter stages a one- man picket when we have just begun the renovations at our Labour Department’s Brickdam Office. How coincidental that KN did not call on the Chief Occupational Safety and Health Officer or me for our comments so that you could do a balanced report. How coincidental that the staff did not mention that I personally upbraided them on Tuesday morning for not moving from the top flat which was being renovated.

Those conditions that Mr. Witter are describing are not present as the working conditions for the staff. If any staff is working on the top flat, they are part of the wickedness of KN and Mr. Witter.

Mr. Witter knew that we were renovating the place. I personally told him so last Monday (October 5). Mr. Witter wants the public to feel that we will only improve the conditions because he picketed. Far from the truth, he knew the repairs are being done, and that we want to re-launch the new Brickdam office in November as a model facility.

Here are the facts:
1. I took the decision over two months ago to make our Labour offices model facilities.

2. At a staff retreat on September 23, the plans for the renovations were discussed with the staff. They even chose the colour-scheme for the office.

3. It was agreed that the office would have airconditioning, carpeted floors, and new IT equipment and software, and completely rewired and repainted among other things.

4. We organized to start the ‘make-over’ the weekend of October 2, one week before Mr. Witter’s one-man protest.

5. This period was chosen because more than half of the staff would be away from work – five from our North Road location went to Barbados on October 4 for a week, and seven officers were at a workshop for three days.

6. Those in the top flat at Brickdam were to be relocated to the lower flat or the North Road location, while arbitration and other meetings are to be held at the Stabroek location.

7. On Tuesday (October 6) morning when I visited, I found that a few staff members were still operating out of the top flat amongst the renovations. I had a meeting with them and upbraided them. I told them that no one should be working upstairs.

If there were any staff working under conditions that Mr. Witter described, then those officers were just setting up conditions for Mr. Witter to complain about and against the instructions of management.
I trust that you make every effort to correct your article.
Manzoor Nadir
Minister of Labour