UG students, police remove barriers at main gate

Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 February 2015, 17:39 by GxMedia

Tension boiled over somewhat as police tu‎rned up Tuesday afternoon at the University of Guyana’s (UG) main gate at the Turkeyene Campus to urge protesting students to stop blocking entry and exit.

Eventually, police and several students removed part of the barrier that could potentially impact on the free flow of traffic on a nearby thoroughfare leading to southern Cummings Lodge and Turkeyen/Sophia.

A part of the barrier remains intact on the campus compound, after a number of students and lecturers told police that they had no jurisdiction on the property. The lecturers and the students told police the current state of the dispute between the staff and the administration.

The students, under the umbrella of the Students Society (UGSS), resorted to preventing other students from entering the institution to attend classes ‎unless the industrial action by lecturers is called off and all classes are resumed across-the-board.

The student body is in favour of the lecturers returning to the negotiating table for higher pay, and if the talks collapse seek conciliation at the Ministry of Labour.

Several unarmed policemen and officers turned up Tuesday but failed to convince the students to allow the free flow of traffic.

On hearing of the arrival of the policemen, a number of lecturers who were in a meeting with their unions walked swiftly to the gate and expressed concern about likely plans to break up the protest there.

More than 15 years ago, several protesting UG students were locked up ‎for blocking a public way.