Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 09, 2014 Letters
DEAR EDITOR,
It is revolting what the poor and powerless must endure at the hands of senior public functionaries in a country called the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
The response by the Director of Prisons to the KN article “Red tape preventing crippled prison officer from occupying new house,” caused me to cringe with trepidation over the type of unprofessional, unsympathetic cadre of leadership this country has cultured in the public service in recent times. In this regard, Mr. Welton Trotz is a leading light.
Trotz’s response was rather juvenile, choosing to play last-lick with a matter that begins and ends at his desk, he showed lack of leadership and a ‘buse’ out demeanour not becoming of the head of a major State Security apparatus. He is preoccupied with the doings of the relatives of the officer crippled in the line of duty. Mr. Trotz was in the top brass of the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) when Ms. Winfield was maimed, as such he cannot escape direct responsibility for the poor operations and management of the prison that allowed Ms. Winfield to receive her injuries.
This is Guyana where we all live, we know how things go among people in power, and if Mr. Trotz has one strain of sympathetic blood in him, he will take immediate steps to have the problem solved. Mr Trotz has a direct line of communication to the Minister of Home Affairs with whom he can make representation, he can use his “good” office to coordinate with the National Commission on Disability to approach both GWI and GPL to write off the outstanding amounts due on any previous service to that address, seeing that these amounts were not incurred by the now disabled Winfield and they were incurred by a pensioner who died more than 7 years ago. Both GWI and GPL have processes for cancelling charges accumulated by old age pensioners.
The Director of Prisons could have used the leverage of his office to petition the public assistance desk at the Ministry of Human Services to activate some form of redress. Mr. Trotz has access to resources and people in high office that the relatives of Ms. Winfield do not. To deny her family the facility of a letter to take to GPL persuading them to actuate their internal procedure for writing off the debts accumulated on the property based on a special circumstance is almost dastardly, cold hearted and uncharitable.
Once Mr. Trotz has satisfied himself that a certificate of electrical inspection was handed over and the relatives are capable of building a home for themselves in Diamond then they must pay off the bills, as such, why are they running to him for help? Ms. Winfield did not injure herself, nor was she injured at home or while in a dancehall, she was injured in the line of duty at her duty station within the walls of a maximum security prison. No amount of assistance, outreach and administrative representation can free Ms. Winfield from her prison of disability and mute. If Mr. Trotz, his predecessor and cohorts in the top brass of the prison service had demonstrated better administrative competence over the management of the prison, Guyana and Ms. Winfield would not be living with the consequences their incompetence unleashed on this land. The prison system over the years has developed a culture of corruption that allows prisoners to be routinely trading drugs and dangerous weapons inside the prison walls.
It is alarming that Mr. Trotz should stoop so low and bring his office into disrepute with such juvenile outpouring in the public domain. I urge Mr. Trotz to cut the antics displayed in his letter to the press and use the leverage he has with the top management of other departments and organizations capable of bringing immediate relief to Ms. Winfield.
Lenno Craig
Jagdeo giving Exxon 102 cent to collect 2 cent.
Apr 25, 2024
By Rawle Toney Kaieteur Sports – The French Diplomatic Office in Guyana, in collaboration with the Guyana Olympic Association and UNICEF, hosted an exhibition on Tuesday evening at the...Kaieteur News – Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party, persists in offering... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]