– Govt yet to disclose findings
More than three weeks have elapsed since a special Board of Inquiry (BoI) which was set up by President David Granger to probe the arbitrary firing of staff at the Public Service Ministry handed over its report to the Government but there has been no word as to its findings.
Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon recently told Guyana Times International that the BoI completed the task that it had been assigned to and the report was submitted to Minister of State, Dawn Hastings, some two weeks ago.
“The report was submitted to the Minister of State who I think has passed it on to the President. I have not seen it as yet. But, I think the Minister of State might be able to tell you a little bit more about it because the last I know, this is what had happened.”
Harmon stated that although he was not provided with a copy of the report or has not yet been briefed as to its findings, the staff from the Public Service Ministry that are involved in the matter are still on administrative leave.
“It [report] was completed and it was sent to her [Minister Hastings] and then I think she passed it on to the President. So, I don’t know whether the President has completed his reviewing of it. I cannot say specifically.”
He noted that until a decision is made in relation to the BoI report, the staff remain on administrative leave.
Almost three weeks ago, Minister Sarabo-Halley defended the firing of staff members from her department shortly after she would have assumed office, saying that there was evidence at her disposal to warrant dismissal.
“I think that the evidence that was before me suggested that something needed to be done and the investigation would bear whether or not that was rational,” the Minister stated at a recent press conference.
She, nevertheless, did not reveal any bit of evidence that she referred to but noted that the investigation will soon wrap up with the findings.
On May 31, 2019, the personnel staff and chief accountant at the Public Service Ministry were sent packing by Minister Tabitha Sarabo-Halley shortly after she was appointed to that post.
When the news broke about the arbitrary firing of personnel staff and the chief accountant, the Government initially denied firing them but one week after, Director General Harmon confirmed that indeed, the workers were sent home.
But he said higher authorities had since intervened and the dismissed staff were eventually sent on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation. He had maintained that the staff in question are still employees of the Government as the decision by Minister Sarabo-Halley to terminate their services has been halted.
Scholarships
However, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo had alluded to the fact that the fired workers were initially targeted and arbitrarily dismissed after they revealed that the children of a Government Minister received payments amounting to over $20 million in the last two years.
One of those revelations is that the children of Minister Simona Broomes had allegedly received over US$86,000 in 2018, monies that were transferred from the Department of Public Service. Then again, this year, another transfer of millions reportedly took place.
Given the controversy around that situation, the Public Service Department has made a decision to publicise all scholarships to ensure “transparency”.
It was confirmed that both children of the Minister in question received grants to study overseas, but Sarabo-Halley could not state if the monies were transferred to their personal accounts.
