SVG Green Party welcomes the ruling of the High Court that said it was illegal for the ULP government to deem public servants to have resigned or left their jobs, if they did not have a Covid-19 vaccination by December 2021.
The ruling declaring the government’s actions to be illegal was what most people had already believed.
The ULP government’s approach to Covid-19 vaccinations was heavy-handed when it came to public servants. The government had overstepped the mark and appeared to forget an important principle. i.e. that government rules on behalf of the people, not over the people.
The ULP government’s stance to deem public servants to have resigned or left their jobs if they did not have a Covid-19 vaccination by December 2021, caused a lot of unnecessary suffering for public servants. Not to mention the negative impact on our children’s education occasioned by the loss of teachers from the classrooms.
The ULP government needs to accept and admit that it was wrong with its draconian Covid-19 vaccination policy. It would be arrogant for the ULP government to appeal and even more waste of taxpayers’ money.
The Leader of SVG Green Party, Vincentian-born retired British Royal Air Force Engineer Warrant Officer Ivan Bertie O’Neal, BSc (Hons), MSc, MBA, believes that government needs to reset and obey the High Court’s ruling. The public servants affected should be paid the wages and benefits that they were illegally denied and they should be given their jobs back. We cannot afford to lose valuable public servants. Government should also pay the public servants’ legal expenses.
In this matter, the ULP government seemed to have an over-inflated opinion of itself and its powers. Government went too far and needs to learn from this important High Court ruling. Public servants should not be treated so badly. They deserve better and more respect.
We should value our SVG Constitution and be thankful for the rights that it bestows on our people.
Government is meant to be there to benefit the people, but when government goes astray or rogue, as in this case, the SVG Constitution provides some safeguards and provides us all with rights.
This whole matter illustrates the fragility of our democracy. It was far too easy for the ULP government to abuse the rights of public sector workers and this is very worrying. It was far too easy for the ULP government to deem public servants to have resigned or left their jobs if they did not have a Covid-19 vaccination, and then render them unemployed and without income. These public workers have households to feed and bills to pay. The vaccine mandate was wrong.
The Leader of SVG Green Party, Vincentian-born retired British Royal Air Force Engineer Warrant Officer Ivan Bertie O’Neal, BSc (Hons), MSc, MBA, believes that it is time for the ULP regime to step aside. There has been a massive waste of taxpayers’ money by government trying to enforce and defend their illegal vaccine mandate in the courts. This money could have been better spent developing our country and helping people in need.