Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has expressed disappointment with some public servants who he says have taken advantage of the COVID-19 measures by ducking work.

At Saturday’s media conference, the PM lamented that “people have been abusing rather than cooperating.

Under the existing measures, the public service is operating at a 50% capacity, with workers required to physically report for work every other day, with the exception of management which is required to report to work daily.

“A general free for all is not what we expected,” the PM said, adding that the issue was due to “very weak management” as employees were not being properly monitored. 

In some instances, the PM said, reports coming to him have shown that a department that should have 30 people has had eight people.

To address the issue, the Head of the Public Service has been instructed that a written roster is kept at all stations to properly monitor attendance.

“Persons who do not turn up to work on the day when they are rostered for work are to be deemed to be absent from work with the consequences that flow from that, including not being paid,” the PM warned.