Padarath: PNM swept OJT harassment allegations under rug

Pub­lic Util­i­ties Min­is­ter Bar­ry Padarath says al­le­ga­tions of sex­u­al ha­rass­ment and preda­to­ry be­hav­iour in­volv­ing young peo­ple in the On-the-Job Train­ing (OJT) Pro­gramme were left un­ad­dressed un­der the for­mer Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM)-ad­min­is­tra­tion.

The is­sue first came to light in May when OJT’s for­mer di­rec­tor ap­peared be­fore the Joint Se­lect Com­mit­tee (JSC) on So­cial Ser­vices and Pub­lic Ad­min­is­tra­tion and told the com­mit­tee that the pro­gramme record­ed an av­er­age of 50 work­place ha­rass­ment cas­es an­nu­al­ly be­tween 2022 and 2025.

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The cas­es in­clud­ed sex­u­al ha­rass­ment and bul­ly­ing.