Duke slams THA: 'Covid19 murdering the public service'

PSA president Watson Duke is threatening to take Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis and the THA to court for criminal negligence for having workers come to work without putting adequate measures in place to protect them against covid19.

Speaking on a Facebook live broadcast on Thursday, Duke read questions he had received from PSA members and members of the public.

“We are going to sue the Chief Secretary and Chief Administrator for criminal negligence, to know you have covid19 cases but not sanitise or take precautionary/reactionary measures as defined by WHO and endorsed by this country.

"Don’t think these workers are without remedy, I’m alive and what I’m doing will be done openly.

"If you want us to, we will shut the offices down in Tobago and call the workers out, take our money and take you to court for negligence, because you know what to do and you are not doing it.”

He said at least 26 of the cases in Tobago were at institutions or buildings controlled by the government.

“The hospital has about ten cases, seven in the Finance Building, five in Magdalena (Grand Resort), and I hear the Agriculture Division has four cases.

"The majority of cases in Tobago are workers, they are using the workers in this place as a minefield to destroy the lives of the unsuspecting workers as they step into covid19.

"I was told there were seven cases at the Victor E Bruce Building in Tobago in the finance, accounts, and cashiers' areas. Seven cases is way too much for a small place like Tobago, and it’s easy to understand that those people in those areas interact with a lot of unknown people, meaning they don’t know where they came from, even if they know their faces and names. Those people could be carriers of the disease.”

“The Magdalena Grand currently has five staff positive and others on quarantine, and the compound has not been sanitised. Over 5,000 Trinidadians came through for the Easter long weekend. so the staff are worried."

He said the government needed to intervene and have the hotel sanitised.

"At one time they used Magdalena to quarantine covid19 patients. I’m not sure those rooms have been sanitised before they put guests into those rooms.

"Sanitise the place, ensure staff has the right to take leave if they are primary and secondary contacts, and you must do your contact tracing.”

Duke called on the government to shut down the public service, with only a few places being left open.

He also said healthcare workers should be made permanent or offered minimum ten-year contracts.

“Covid19 is murdering the public service in Trinidad and Tobago, and as a result the government should just shut down the public service. The only places that should be open on a limited basis is the accounts department and places like WASA, TTEC, telephone (TSTT).

"But all other departments should be shut down completely. You keep the health institutions running on a limited basis, you ensure your frontline staff dealing with covid19 or patients on a whole are equipped with the latest and the best technology to protect their health, then buttress that by making sure every single healthcare worker is permanent. If you can’t give them a permanent letter, I would say give them at least a ten-year contract, because you want to honour healthcare workers.”