CRISIS AT GOVT OFFICES

[Guest guest]

CRISIS AT GOVT OFFICES

Published: Sun, 2011-01-23 18:27

http://guardian.co.tt/news/2011/01/23/crisis-govt-offices

Trinidad House, one of the sick buildings in Port-of-Spain. Photo: Nero

Sick Building Syndrome is at crisis proportions in T & T with scores of public

servants complaining of rashes, itching on the private parts, asthma attacks and

boils on the eye. So claims Duke, president of the Public Service

Association (PSA), who contends that Government is wasting millions of

taxpayers' dollars to rent buildings, instead of generating funds to eliminate

the " increasingly worrying problem " of " sick buildings. " Duke estimates that the

Sick Building Syndrome is affecting some 20 per cent of public sector workers,

and said the problem was an old one.

" We have people in their early 20s having growths in their eye the size of a

pea, we get complaints of itching and scratching, people complaining of dry

cough and sinus, " he said. " Sometimes it has to do with the materials during the

construction process. It has to do with the cleaning and sterilisation of the

floors and the air conditioning systems, because the air you breathe on the

inside is as important as on the outside. " According to Duke, people spend some

eight hours in a work environment and that could ultimately affect their health.

The outspoken trade unionist said Government's primary concern was getting the

job done and no focus is placed on health issues.

He charged: " The Government wants to treat workers like pigs and expect them to

operate like lambs and say nothing. " The Government is driven by productivity

and not by the workers' welfare. " The Public Service Commission in

Port-of-Spain, he said, is just one of many Government buildings affected. " When

we visited the Service Commission building it was one of the buildings where

Cariri (the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute) did extensive research late

last year and they found the bacteria, Stachybotrys was on one ceiling tile.

Stachybotrys is a greenish-black fungus that colonises particularly well in

high-cellulose material, such as straw, hay, paper, dust, lint, and

cellulose-containing building material such as fibre board. Also, on gypsum

board that becomes chronically moist or water damage due to excessive humidity.

Individuals with chronic exposure to the toxin reported cold and flu symptoms,

sore throats, diarrhoea, headaches, fatigue and dermatitis. Service Commission

workers suffering " Employees at the Service Commission have been suffering from

the worst type of Sick Building Syndrome and several young women in particular

are complaining of scratching of the private parts and that's very real, " Duke

said.He added that workers complained about bronchitis and rashes on their

necks. The " sickness " of many building frustrated workers so much, he pointed

out, that daily " hundreds " are forced to leave work early.

He placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Government and said the

issue of sick buildings was not adequately addressed.

" The problem with the Service Commission building began in 2009 when Cariri did

their first report and found that the sewer line was connected to the air

conditioning vent. " If someone is warming their food on the first floor the

people on the fourth floor can smell it. The humidity is very high, which makes

it conducive to bacteria, " he revealed. Duke said the Board of Inland Revenue

(BIR) building in Port-of-Spain has a perennial problem with a malfunctioning

sewer system. " Late last year the entire system shut down and raw sewage was

being pumped onto the floor. All they did was throw some Dettol, mop up the

place and tell them to go back to work like hogs, " he said. The Agriculture

Ministry at King's Wharf in San is " sick " , Duke said. He claimed three

employees have died of cancer and a fourth is now dying from the disease.

He said there was an urgent need for an environmental toxicologist, and the PSA

plans to hire such an expert to do blood testing on public sector employees. " We

need a specially trained person who will not only test the environment but also

test for different toxins in the blood. " Cariri, while they are good, are not

fully equipped to deal with Sick Building Syndrome, " Duke said. Also expressing

concern about the " sick building " problem was trade unionist, Annisette

who wants Government to immediately conduct a cost benefit analysis. He said a

" centralised Government building " was crucial. " I would like to think of it as a

one-stop-building that is friendly to conduct Government business instead of

having to run here and there, " Annisette suggested.

He is fully supportive of recent protest marches staged by the PSA, and said

effectively tackling the problem of sick building was long overdue. Using the

Conciliation Department of the Labour Ministry as an example, Annisette said the

lives of workers are at risk. He said the department was located at Duke Street,

Port-of-Spain, an area where daylight robberies and shootings commonly occur.

Annisette said productivity and a conducive environment go hand-in-hand and work

efficiency cannot be sustained if employees are uncomfortable.

OSHA department `toothless'

Employees assigned to the OSHA department, a unit of the Labour Ministry, are

unable to fully conduct investigations because of a manpower shortage, Duke

said. He described the department, located at the East Dry River in

Port-of-Spain, as " the worst building out. " " I don't know how that building

houses these specialists workers who ought to be going out and condemning

buildings and writing persons up and have not written up themselves. " I have

visited there and the place is literally like a dump and one wonders if they are

OSHA compliant, " Duke said. He urged that contract employees there be made

permanent workers. " Even the OSHA persons are not aware of the laws, " he said.

PSA's " sick buildings

• Trinidad House

• Public Service Commission

• Central Statistical Office (CSO)

• Board of Inland Revenue

• Maritime Division, Henry Street, Port-of-Spain

• Social Services office, Port-of-Spain General Hospital

• Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope

• Customs and Excise building

• Vat office building, Port-of-Spain

Govt accommodation update

Ministry of Education Tower

• Two buildings on Street, Port-of-Spain on the other side of the parkade

• Sixteen story office tower-237,370 sq ft

• Five storey secondary building-35,420 sq ft

• Base building complete-to be outfitted

• Outfitting designs signed off by previous administration

Govt accommodation update

Chancery Lane Complex

• Ten-storey office tower with rooftop atrium

• Three-storey retail space with shopping area and food court

• Two-storey (50,000 sq ft) public library area

• Nine levels of public car park (482 parking spaces)

• 468,000 sq ft of net useable space

• Base building 74 per cent complete

• Tenant ministries to be determined

Govt Accommodation Update — Lease/Rental - Totals per month

Total Commercial Rentals Number of Leases Rental Sq. Footage Total Rent Spend

Value Added Tax Total Rent Vat incl.

Ministries 220 2,448, 762 $17, & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp;

& nbsp; & nbsp; 231,881 ; ; $2,584,782 & nbsp; & nbsp;

$19,816,663

Other Agencies 33 & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; 269,544 ; ; ;

; ; ; $2,448,100 $367,215 & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; $2,815,315

Grand Total 253 & nbsp; & nbsp; 2,718,306 & nbsp; & nbsp;

& nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; & nbsp; $19,679,981 $2,951,997 & nbsp;

& nbsp; $22,631,978

..