Palms nurses continue sit-in
-say ‘crush rice’ and hard saltfish not worth stealing
Stabroek News
June 6, 2003
The sit-in at the Palms institution continued yesterday with the nurses angrily refuting allegations by the Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, Mitra Devi Ali that they were stealing food.
According to the protesting group, the food for the patients consists of lumpy, crushed or broken rice and half-spoilt fish.
“The fish is so hard that the residents have to soak it in their tea before they can eat it. The meals that are provided do not cater for the specific nutritional needs of the residents, most of whom are diabetic,” one nurse told Stabroek News. She said the rice was white when it should be the more nutritious brown variety.
The messages written by nurses on some placards read; “We do not eat curry saltfish and crush rice”, “Patients are not being fed properly, much less the nurses” and “Patients should get crush potatoes not crush rice”.
It was pointed out that the staff did not receive risk allowances although their health was in danger every day.
“We will continue to protest for as long as it takes for the management to notice the plight that we are in,” one of the staffers declared.
Stabroek News spoke with Dennis English, an Industrial Relations officer at the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) at the facility yesterday afternoon. He said despite a number of meetings between the union and management regarding the problems, “management has failed to make attempts at rectifying the situation in a timely manner.” He disclosed that it had been agreed that each staff member would be given a uniform allowance during the first quarter of every year but to date this had not been done.
Meanwhile, the group deemed Ali’s comments “disrespectful” and stated that they had never seen her visiting the institution.
Stabroek News and other members of the media visited the Palms on Wednesday and smelt the stench in one ward; saw a walkway leading to another section of the facility almost submerged in water; several patients lying on mattress without sheets or on mattresses on the floor.
In a telephone interview with Stabroek News on Wednesday, Ali said her ministry was unaware of the crisis. (Edlyn Benfield)
