Public servant protests payment to Foreign Affairs employee accused of being a ghost worker for three years
A government worker is speaking out against the reported abuse of
the public service by a female employed in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs.
In a correspondence penned to REAL News, the complaining worker
expresses concern over the hypocrisy of the Browne Administration,
noting that the prime minister has repeatedly voiced his disgust for
ghost workers.
Therefore, the troubled writer is asking why Browne is allowing this
particular person to take advantage of the system.
Reportedly, the young woman in question was hired by the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in 2016; however, for almost three years, the
letter alleges, “she has not reported to work for even five minutes,
despite getting her full salary from the Ministry.”
The writer says this situation is intolerable, and asks how Foreign
Affairs Minister E.P. Chet Greene could stand by and allow this to
happen on his watch.
The worker is curious to know whether Greene is “so alienated”
from his ministry that he does not even know what is going on.
The letter goes on to allege that the prime minister has rewarded
this ghost worker with a high-ranking position on a government
board and a post at a private radio station.
This has led to claims that the young woman has no undergraduate
degree; no experience or training in urban renewal; and no
communications or media credentials.
Therefore, the public servant asks, how can an unqualified person
be receiving “so many undeserving paychecks from this
government?”
The implication is that the young woman is receiving such favour
because she is a staunch supporter of the Antigua and Barbuda
Labour Party, and the disgruntled worker says such corruption and
preferential treatment must end.
Accordingly, a call is being made to Prime Minister Gaston
Browne, Minister Green, and Minister of Urban Renewal Maria
Browne for the situation to be corrected.
“I believe it is only fair that she repays the government for the
benefits she has received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that
she did not earn,” the letter concludes.
