Six staffers dismissed from the Palms
Guyana Chronicle
July 30, 2003
GINA -- Six members of the Administrative staff of the Palms were yesterday handed letters of dismissal following a collaborative decision between the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security and the Public Service Ministry.
The dismissals stemmed from a July 4 visit by Minister of Labour, Dr Dale Bisnauth, and a team including Permanent Secretary, Phulandar Kandhi, to the Palms , Brickdam, to meet with the Administrator to discuss the way forward for the institution.
The visit was a stormy one for the Ministerial team , as they were met by an unruly group of workers, who abandoned their positions to prevent the team from entering the premises.
The behaviour was considered unacceptable and an apology was demanded, but the workers chose not to as they did not see it as necessary.
They were also backed by the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) in their decision not to apologise.
Ministry officials are however of the opinion that such disrespectful behaviour during official work time would have a negative impact.
According to Kandhi, after consultations with the Public Service Ministry, the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security took the decision to issue dismissal letters to the Administrator Ms. McKinnon and five other persons.
According to the Permanent Secretary, there is need for greater macro and micro management of the Palms, as there are reports from the Ministry of persons leaving their workstation, residents left unattended and pilfering from the stores.
The Ministry is hoping that with a new management structure, these incidents will be reduced, if not eliminated.
The Ministry considers the Palms a very important institution, as it expends a considerable amount of funds on its daily functioning.
According to Mr Kandhi, the Ministry has a responsibility to these citizens, since a number of these persons have given yeoman service to the country in their former years.
Persons recruited for the Palms are identified by social workers or are recommended by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. There is a problem however with mentally challenged persons being accepted into the Palms.
The Ministry is also considering privatizing the palms kitchen. Over $3.5M were expended for the first five months of this year to supply the kitchen. There are complaints, however, that residents are not being given proper meals.
Rehabilitation work is presently in process at the palms on Wards Six, Seven and Eight. Six million dollars will be expended for this project.
To facilitate the ongoing works, the Ministry asked that relatives of residents keep them for a period of three weeks to accommodate the process. The Ministry is working on having repairs completed as scheduled so that things could return to normal.
The Palms was established to house the old and destitute who have no family to take care of them.
The situation at the Palms is closely monitored by Minister Bisnauth and Bibi Shadick are closely monitoring the situation at the Palms.
