Dear Editor,

THE construction of the new and bigger Aurora School Building is welcome news, for which the Education Ministry, and by extension the coalition Government, must be commended. It is by far the largest and most important investment made by the current Administration in the community so far.

But the residents of this community have a concern that they feel can and must be addressed urgently, and that concern is that employment opportunities do not exist for labourers, masons, carpenters, and other skilled workers on that construction site.

While residents are cognizant of the fact that the contractor may be the one who has the prerogative to hire and fire, they are also convinced that four, or even three, persons of the eighteen employed there should be from the community.

I was reliably informed that more than two dozen skilled and unskilled persons in the immediate vicinity diligently asked for employment, and none was successful; and they have a right to be very, very concerned.

We will all remember that when the previous Government was using the Guyanese tax payers’ money to build the Marriott Hotel, the contractor, a Chinese company, was refusing to employ Guyanese workers; and this Government, then in Opposition, was very vocal in its criticism, and its members were right.

And while we, the people, have not seen the contract document or the bill of quantities, it is reasonable to expect that persons from the community would be employed.

There are times when we have to put ourselves in other people’s places to be better able to describe their feelings. Our Government is spending close to one hundred and twenty million dollars on a project in those people’s village, and men with the required skills are asking to be employed and they are being rejected.

It is more that relevant for us to remember that when the previous school building was taken down, several persons from the community requested to have materials given to them, that they could make or extend pens for the rearing of poultry, pigs and livestock in order to make a living. Promises were made, but were never fulfilled. It was subsequently unearthed that eighty percent of the materials are still to be accounted for.

There are conflicting or confusing reports pertaining to these materials, and while some may hope that this issue will fade away in time, others are of the view that the more confusing it gets, the more interesting it will be, until the truth is finally known.

Now, to deny experienced and capable people from that area employment is like rubbing salt in a wound. I only hope that good sense and judgement would prevail, for we have voted for a change and not an exchange.

Regards,
ARCHIE CORDIS