"Human trafficking". That's how a number of Guyanese nationals working in Grenada are describing the condition under which they are presently employed in the spice Isle.

The workers were reportedly brought into the country by an agent from Guyana to beef up the work force for the Emergency Housing Programme (EHP) run by the Housing Authority of Grenada (HAG).

The programme was launched in November due to the massive destruction caused to Grenada's housing stock as a result of the passage of hurricane Ivan last September.

When contacted Wednesday for comment on the issue, Public Relations Officer (PRO) for HAG, Francis St. Hillaire told GRENADA TODAY that the department is not directly involved with the Guyanese workers. He said they were brought into the country by one Muntaz Ali, a Guyanese national operating an employment agency on behalf of HAG and that there is no contractual arrangement involving the workers and the authority.

The Guyanese businessman presently operates a construction company at True Blue called M. Osaman & Sons Ltd. The eighty plus Guyanese are said to be unhappy with their working arrangement in that it is not meeting up to what they were promised back home before they signed up for the job in Grenada.

One worker who spoke under anonymity said that they were promised accommodation as well as being paid in US currency but that this not did not materialise. He disclosed that the Guyanese workers are also concerned about monies being deducted from their salaries without any reason, the taking away of their travel documents, and having to work long hours without receiving any overtime pay.

According to the Guyanese national, during their first week in Grenada, they were placed in houses and one week later they were told that they had to find their own living accommodation. He pointed out that several of the workers are interested in returning to their homeland but are unable to do so because their travel documents have been taken away.

St. Hillaire said as far as he is aware the workers are properly housed with some residing at Dunfermline Housing Project and that they are presently working on a number of sites around the island.

When this newspaper contacted the Ministry of Labour Wednesday, our news desk was told that because work permits were not issued to the Guyanese who are here voluntarily their travel documents were not taken away.

Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas also raised the issue about the treatment meted out to the Guyanese during a sitting of the House of Representatives on Tuesday. He disclosed that in conversation with one of the workers employed on a site in St. Patrick's, he described their situation as a form of human trafficking.

Thomas told the sitting that the Guyanese national expressed concern about their passports being taken away from them. The Opposition Leader called on the Ministry of Housing to investigate the situation facing the Guyanese since their rights should be respected and upheld.

Thomas, the political leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) told the sitting that CARICOM workers should not be subjected to such treatment in another Caribbean country.