UWI shrinks security team amid ballooning costs, millions in arrears

The University of the West Indies (UWI) has been forced to cut back on security at its Mona campus in St Andrew after falling into arrears with service provider Guardsman Group Limited.

The decision comes amid several robberies and attacks on students in recent years, including the rape of a female student in a restroom at knifepoint in May last year.

Campus Registrar Donovan Stanberry declined to comment when contacted by The Gleaner on Thursday, noting that he was unable to speak on the situation at the time.

The Gleaner had sought confirmation on whether Guardsman had pulled dozens of guards due to a significant amount of money owed to the company by the university.

Director of operations for Guardsman Group Limited, Lieutenant Commander George Overton, called the decision “mutual” when contacted by The Gleaner on Thursday.

“We have reduced the deployment in agreement with UWI,” said Overton.

“It’s because of the cost of security today. They can’t afford it, and, therefore, they’ve had to cut deployment to match their budget … . Their budget cannot afford the new cost of security,” he added.

Multiple Gleaner sources have said that at the latest tally days ago, the regional institution owed the security company some $160 million and that they had been working out a payment arrangement.

For safety reasons, Overton would not divulge by how much UWI’s complement has been cut but said that the chop was “significant”.

Gleaner sources indicated that guards have been pulled from at least 40 locations on the Mona campus, with the latest adjustments made on Thursday.

Overton said that industry rates have gone up by 43 per cent following the Supreme Court’s ruling last September that security guards are employees and not independent contractors, forcing companies to adjust.

Security companies have lamented that the implications of the ruling were further compounded by the Government’s declaration that it would cease doing business with any company that did not comply with the ruling, effective April 1.

“There’s another 36 per cent coming on the first of June with the minimum wage increase,” he said, pointing to the Government’s decision to up the rate for industrial security guards from $10,500 to $14,000 per 40-hour workweek.

“UWI has been struggling before April 1. They really have been struggling to be able to meet their payments. They were running significantly behind, and they’ve just had to make the hard decision that they now have to cut the suit to fit the budget,” Overton said, before noting that UWI is a “large” area for Guardsman but not the company’s biggest client.

Several attempts by The Gleaner to reach UWI Guild President Omolora Wilson for comment on the decision and how it may impact students were unsuccessful.

Other measures

UWI’s Director of Security Norman Heywood said that several strategies are being employed to “augment” campus safety.

“Yes, there are concerns, and we are currently looking at ways to ensure that security is not compromised as a result of any cut in security persons,” he said.

Pressed on whether students ought to be concerned, Heywood said that there has not been any serious incident, including sexual assault, since the start of the year on campus, except for the February report of a female student who was reportedly held captive and tortured in the dorm room of a male student.

“It’s not like these incidents are prevalent on campus. We have one-off cases. We have had a case last year of rape, where the perpetrator is in custody. We’re not anticipating that the space will be loose,” Heywood added.

“We’re putting in place other measures to increase patrols and enhance lighting and our surveillance system to ensure that all students and other stakeholders on campus are safe despite any reduction in security,” he told The Gleaner.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com