3 weeks ago
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NCRHA chairman Dr Tim Gopeesingh - Around 40 sanitation workers greeted the New Year jobless as the North-Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) cracked down on what its CEO Bhadase Seethal Maraj said was "widespread corruption" left by the previous board.
Despite Magic Mist being almost 50-years-old, Maraj told Newsday that for the last decade, that company did not have any tender or contract with this RHA.
This despite receiving close to $700,000 in monthly payments, Maraj said, amounting to $58 million in the last seven years.
Despite having only 40 employees, Maraj claimed that a company had made payment claims for 80.
He said another cleaning company received around $37 million per year, with no contracts and no tendering per year, and that from 2026, the services of Magic Mist and the other company will no longer be needed.
He claimed the issue of high payouts with no contract was widespread in the various RHAs and applies to security services and “many other areas.”
This comes days after complaints of a wage crisis from security workers within the NCRHA were reported. A source told Newsday the issue stemmed from the NCRHA’s failure to settle outstanding payments for contracted services, leaving the security company unable to pay workers.
NCRHA chairman Dr Tim Gopeesingh said when the new board came in, they met with 560 suppliers to the RHA who were owed over $320 million. From then to now, he said, the amount of suppliers had come down to 118 and payments, to less than 100 million
“We have made alternative arrangements to continue with the cleaning of NCRHA facilities,” Gopeesingh said. He added that the RHA will be seeking to fill the 40 positions caused by the lay-offs.
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