A BARTICA contractor who owes more than $500,000 to six carpenters on the Essequibo Coast is refusing to pay up.According to reports, the six carpenters visited the Labour Ministry’s office at Anna Regina and lodged a complaint against the contractor who is living at Fifth Avenue, Mongrippa Hill, Bartica.

Reports said one of the carpenters, Deodat Krishna, who worked as a supervisor with the contractor on the project at Iteringbang, Region 7, said the contractor has some $150,000 for him. He said the other workers Terry Persaud is owed $72,000, Eon Nohar $72,000, Munaf Bacchus $72,000, Ramlall $120,000, and Rasheed Ally $150,000.
According to Deodat, they started to work on the project which was to construct a building for the gold mining sector in September 2013. He said they spent one year working on the building and after completing construction work on 14th December, 2014 they came out of the interior looking forward to uplifting the rest of money owed to them for their hard labour.
However, the contractor failed to pay them for the Christmas holiday season. The carpenters who depended on their hard earned money said they are disappointed with the contractor’s attitude towards them and are calling on the Ministry of Labour to intervene in the matter.
Deodat said that while working on the project they did not have food for many days and had to ask police officers who are stationed in the area for help.
One carpenter said the police officers were so kind that they also loaned them money to buy foodstuff to cook. He added that they still owe the officers.
The workers said they had to find food for themselves in the remote area despite the contractor’s promise to send in foodstuff regularly.
According to Deodat he has a book in which he has recorded the workers’ time, days they worked and the payments received from the contractor.
According to Deodat, the contractor had promised to pay them by January month-end after failing to honour the December date. He said when he called via phone on the last day of January, the contractor denied that he has money for them and bluntly said they can do what they feel like.
Deodat said when he called on Saturday the contractor allegedly threatened to shoot him if he should bother him for the money again.
The carpenters who are in their early twenties said this is “advantage” and are also calling on the police to intervene. (Rajendra Prabhulall)