Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton today registered his dissatisfaction over a move by the Guyana Government to support the importation of five hundred nurses from Bangladesh to supplement the local health sector.

At a press conference today, Norton said the move is a slap in the face of local nurses who have been working for years with low wages and poor working conditions. 

According to the Opposition Leader, before any such move is taken, the Government needs to first address the challenges facing local nurses and fill gaps in the system.“We therefore call for a half of this process. The Government should be ensuring that them and the trade unions agree to a multi- year pay package for health workers, teachers and other health workers through collective bargaining and table a policy paper on immigration and migration in the National Assembly scrutiny, discussions and a consensual approach to these issues,” Mr. Norton stated

Mr. Norton accused the Government of forcing persons out of the public sector, noting that any move by the Government to bring in foreign workers and provide better pay packages and working conditions for them, should be seen as disrespectful.

“The Government is clearly creating the conditions for Health Workers and Public Servants to migrate so that they can replace them with foreigners who they are likely to excise control over. The government needs to desist from this destructive strategy and create conditions conductive to Guyanese wanting to be health workers and public servants and remain in Guyana.

He believes the decision to grant clearance for the recruitment of the foreign nurses was calculated by the administration.

“The use of work contracts to recruit public servants from other countries is a devious stratagem by the PPP to suppress wages and benefits for local workers as well. Under the PPP, this stratagem of foreign recruitment of nurses will likely spread to the education system and the wider public service,” Norton pointed out. 

Earlier this week, the Government confirmed that it had granted approval to a private company to recruit 500 healthcare workers from Bangladesh to fill local gaps.

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