... Trouble brewing over non-payment of healthcare, contract workers

Healthcare workers and contractors in the southern region are disgruntled at not being paid for work done in the vaccination blitz.

One transport operator, Paul Johnson*, who worked during that period, and whose wife later died of COVID-19 while waiting on medication he was hoping to buy with his blitz payment, told The Gleaner that of the over $200,000 owed to him, he has only received $100,000. His wife needed a life-saving injection which cost $300,000.

Councillor for the Hayes Division, Scean Barnswell, has been trying to assist Johnson in getting the payment.

“Mr Barnswell went to Kingston, he went to the May Pen office, and still nothing. It’s after she passed that I got a little money. Mi caan explain how dat feel, ‘cause you know when you work you are looking to get paid,” Johnson said.

The Gleaner contacted Rowhan Blake, CEO of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation, who said all payments for blitzes one and two were paid, except for two divisions which the ministry had sought clarifications on, due to the discrepancy in the invoice amounts.

He also informed that funds for the third blitz, which have been submitted and verified, have been received. Payments have been made, and others are being processed for payment.

Blake also informed that other submissions have been made for blitz No. 3, but funding has not yet been received. He did, however, note that the claims were recently submitted to the ministry.

One healthcare worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said workers were last paid up to September 5, despite working every weekend since.

“Everyone – coordinators and vaccinators – is owed for the period of September 11 and every weekend until now,” the worker shared.

Signs that trouble could be brewing came during last weekend’s blitz that took place at the Longville Park Baptist Church, because there was a shortage of staff. In addition, workers were provided with bun and cheese for lunch, instead of the customary cooked meals.

At the last sitting of the Clarendon Municipal Corporation, Barnswell raised questions regarding payments for the second phase of the blitz, pointing out that it was unfair to transport operators and food providers who worked on no-movement days and are still not paid.

In a follow-up interview with The Gleaner, Barnswell expressed dissatisfaction with the process as it relates to the role of councillors in the vaccination blitz.

“On August 4, I engaged the services of a transport operator to move people in and around the division to vaccination sites at the community centre at Raymonds, and also engaged the services of a cookshop to provide food for staff,” he explained, stating that it took the municipal corporation and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development three months to get the funds from central government to settle the bill.

“Right now I have claims in my possession for the period of September and October, but with an updated correspondence, it would indicate that I cannot submit it, because if it wasn’t claimed for before, it cannot be done in this window. I am now wondering if their service has been in vain,” Barnswell noted.

The Gleaner also reached out to Michael Bent, regional director at the Southern Regional Health Authority, who responded via WhatsApp.

“I don’t know of persons not paid for three months, not in my region,” Bent said.

cecelia.livingston@gleanerjm.com