No axing of GEC workers after privatisation --says CDC/ESBI
by Terrence Esseboom
GUYANA Electricity Corporation (GEC) employees will not be axed after the privatisation deal is sealed. This assurance was given yesterday by officials of the joint venture Commonwealth Development Corporation and the Electricity Sector Board International of Ireland (CDC/ESBI). Mr David Bishop, Regional Manager of the CDC partner, assured employees that their future will be secure with the new entity, the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL). "They (GEC workers) are unsure of their future...and we've got to manage that uncertainty despite all the (previous) public assurances. What we are looking to do is to offer them a rewarding career opportunity in the GPL," Bishop explained. He said CDC/ESBI is anxious to retain the institutional memory of the power firm and that the skills of senior GEC officials will be a key component in the transition period. "...people are our most important asset (and) we've got to manage their movement from GEC to GPL," Bishop said in the interview at Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Georgetown. Bishop told the Chronicle that CDC/ESBI has no pre-determined formula to eventually replace the top 14 officials of the electricity business. In a written response to questions raised by this newspaper, the official explained "we expect the full team of 14 to be on the ground within weeks of closing. There still has to be further discussion on the role of the existing GEC management people to be displaced by the new management team." "...we expect to develop the skills of Guyanese so that they (will) have the opportunity to fill most of these positions in the medium term. This approach is intended to ensure that the company's performance will be turned-around in a timely and sustainable manner, while also providing Guyanese professionals with the opportunity to develop their skills base." According to the reply, the Management Agreement "assumes" that at least ten of the top posts in the new entity will be `Guyanised' within four years. "This is an aggressive target, but an important one in light of the need to create attractive career opportunities for highly motivated employees of GPL." GEC insiders, however, said workers there remain skeptical about CDC/ESBI promises of their job security, and prefer to receive their severance benefits before the deal is finalised. It is their view that staff rationalisation will be carried out in the company and workers will lose benefits when this eventually happens. Bishop disagrees. "...their rights...are going to come across with them to GPL. If at some stage...they don't want to stay, then, they will have the same rights," as if they were still an employee of the GEC, Bishop stated. "They (workers) also want the golden handshake," allegedly offered to senior officials, a GEC officer told the Chronicle this week. But Bishop said existing severance benefits will be transferred to the new entity when the covenant is sealed. This should be formalised by this month end. CDC/ESBI is required to provide US$23.45M for its 50 per cent equity in the company. The money is to be disbursed over a three-year period with US$9M given in the first year, US$6M the following year and the rest in the last year. Bishop also scotched rumours that the piecemeal way their equity share is to be disbursed had anything to do with the financial position of the joint venture, or a surreptitious strategy to use revenue from the GEC. "...these funds are being provided entirely from CDC/ESBI own resources," Bishop said.
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