–says NCN Sports Editor who, despite reinstatement calls, remains on suspension

By Ravin Singh

NATIONAL Communications Network (NCN) Sports Editor Mrs. Jocelle Archibald-Hawke has just about two weeks to go before her suspension is up and she returns to work, but to her it seems an eternity.

“The reality is that it has been hard for me. It has caused some amount of setbacks, because I still have to take care of my children, pay my bills, and provide for my family,” she told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday.

The mother of two was, a few weeks ago, going about her business as usual, when out of the blue she was slapped with a one-month suspension without pay, sanctioned for committing the cardinal sin of making derogatory comments about one of her colleagues on social media.

She was subsequently asked to apologise, and she did. But her apology was apparently not to the liking of the offended party, so she was suspended.

A number of prominent individuals and organisations have strongly condemned the action by the NCN management, headed by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lennox Cornette. President David Granger himself thought the decision was “inhumane”, and said as much during his weekly televised programme, “The Public Interest”.

“She has not committed a crime; it is not as though she’s a murderer. I think it was inhumane to take away her salary or to suspend her from her job. I don’t know she has committed any crime at all,” the President said.

He added: “I think there was an absence of compassion on the part of the [NCN] administration, and we expect that (compassion) in the future. I think it is inhumane to deprive an employee of her salary without due process.”

The Guyana Press Association (GPA) has insisted that the suspension should be rescinded because NCN does not have a social media policy from which it can institute disciplinary action. However, despite these calls, management has not seen it fit to reinstate or contact the Sports Editor, whose suspension, effective from August 29, 2016, lasts until September 30, 2016.

Archibald-Hawke has until then to make ends meet the best way she can. As she told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, she is still in the process of paying for her car, which was bought through the bank. And because of her predicament, she has now been forced to consider writing the bank to ask for time to pay this month’s installment.

And while family members and friends have chipped in to help ease her burden, it is still very difficult for her because of her multiple commitments. One such commitment, she said, is the matter of one of her son’s school fee; and she still has to figure out how she is going to pay her other son’s babysitter this month.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the NCN CEO have, to date, proven futile, as several calls to his phone have gone unanswered.
Efforts to contact several members of the NCN Board have likewise proven futile.