–over monies owed them since 2015

OVER 40 Lindeners employed under the Community Infrastructure Improvement Programme (CIIP) on Monday staged a protest at the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LMTC).

This was after being told that the $12, 500 owed to them for extra labour since 2015 will not be paid immediately.
Things became so heated during the protest that the police had to be called in to quell the situation and assist in getting the workers off the premises.

The workers initially refused to leave the building and threatened to remain until payment was made. Town Clerk (ag) Orleena Obermuller later told this publication that payment could not have been made on Monday, and that the earliest the process would allow for it to be done is on Friday. The workers allege that Obermuller told them that payment will be made ‘whenever’, which she vehemently refuted.

Avril Thom, one of the frustrated workers told the Guyana Chronicle that they were called to a meeting at the Council to discuss payment of the long overdue wages.
She said that some payment was made in the past, in that workers who did not work the extra hours received payment while those who did were left hanging.

An agreement was made at the meeting on Monday that 50% of the money would be paid to all the workers, since the Council was not in a position to pay all 53 of them the entire $12, 500.

Thom said it was after telling them that, that the Town Clerk broke the news that the money would be paid whenever the Council has money. She said it was because the workers knew that the Council was in receipt of the money that they staged the protest.
“It is frustrating! They just get us here steady, steady,” Thom said, adding:

“It is test time for children, and we need our money. We have children going to school; they have this money for us since 2015 and we can’t get pay! It is unfair!”
Similar sentiments were expressed by Simone Daniels, who said she’d worked a whole 32 hours extra after being instructed to do so.

“Maan, is since 2015, and we still waiting!” Daniels said. She also bemoaned the entire payment system at the Council, alleging that the workers have to wait until the middle of the new month to get paid for work done the previous month.
This, she said, should not happen because the ministry sends the payments to the Council in a timely manner.

“The payment system sucks for $23, 000,” Daniels said. “These people just making the government look bad; we are not leaving here until we get our money.”
In an invited comment, the Town Clerk told the Guyana Chronicle that while it is still unclear who would have instructed the workers to work the extra hours, the payment was made available by the Ministry after some time.

There was then an issue with the time sheet, she said, and some workers who did not work the extra hours were paid, while the 52 who did were not.
A balance of the money the Ministry sent remained, and the meeting was called to iron out matters with the workers. The monies remaining, however, could only allow for payment of 38 of the workers. A decision was therefore made for all 53 to receive 50% of the payment in the interim, until the Council decides on how all will be paid.

The Town Clerk further explained that while the workers believed that the monies would have been released immediately, it is a process she would have commenced as soon as she left the meeting.

This, however, did not go down well with them. She said that meetings have to be held also with those who received payment but did not work for those monies to be recovered.
The workers are adamant that three years is long enough for the Town Clerk to still be processing funds.