A 26-year-old nurse, whose three-year contract with the Public Health Ministry was expected to end in September has expressed deep concerns over the non-payment of salaries since June.
The young lady, Carol Kumar, in an interview with INews, explained that she began working with the health institution back in 2015 but was forced to end her service early in 2017, due to her mother’s illness.
However, after one year had elapsed, Kumar was contacted and informed by the Ministry that there is a four-month period remaining before the termination of her three-year contract, and as such, she is required to provide service to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation until that period comes to an end.
As a result, Kumar respected the contract policy and resumed duties at the institution in June of this year. But from that time to now, the young nurse is yet to receive her monthly salary for that four months as GPHC claims that she was not reinstated.
“When I try to find out they told me last week that I wasn’t reinstated as yet, so I’m asking them if I’m not reinstated as yet why am I working?” she expressed.
The frustrated young woman highlighted the fact that she cares for her ill mother, and this situation is adding more to her plate since seeking help from the respective Ministry and related agencies are of no use.
“I’ve been four months without salary, my mother is probably dying on me and nobody trying or doing anything about it. And every time I reach out, everybody keeps shutting me off. I went to labour before and they said there’s nothing they can do about it, I went to the Personnel Department of the Ministry of health and they told me the Public Service Union has my letter of reinstatement, I called them and they said they don’t have anything.” Kumar noted.
Moreover, she stated that the situation is unacceptable since she willingly resigned from her previous job to resume duties at the facility. She is nevertheless, calling on the higher authorities to intervene in the matter.
“I was with another company working, they asked me to resign from my job the month before I started working in May, and I resumed duty and the Ministry of Health in June which I did. And from June to now, nothing…it’s very frustrating because if they know they’re not gonna pay me, the most they could do is just be mannerly about and tell me something”.
