GAWU awaiting requested documents from Govt

1 month after sugar consultations

Nearly one month after Government’s high-level consultations with several stakeholders in the sugar industry, the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has not received several requested documents.

Sugar operations ended at the Wales Sugar Estate in December last year
Sugar operations ended at the Wales Sugar Estate in December last year

These include an outline of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) plan on the new ventures for the Wales Sugar Estate, in addition to the relevant studies that were considered before the diversification plans were determined.
In an interview with  Guyana Times on Sunday, GAWU President Komal Chand related that the Union was still awaiting GuySuCo’s release of the documents pertaining to the studies that were conducted.

 GAWU President Komal Chand
GAWU President Komal Chand

“They had stated that if we want any documents and any information, we could request. We (GAWU) have done so, but we haven’t gotten any documents from them,” he explained.
The GAWU President further highlighted that the Union intended to ascertain the exact crops, in addition to rice, that were being proposed for cultivation under the diversification plans. It was disclosed that stakeholders were informed that the Rose Hall Factory would be closed, Enmore Estate would be closed and the Skeldon plant would be sold. The public later became aware that a Trinidadian firm had expressed interest in the heavily automated Skeldon factory.
Chand later disclosed that no rice was yet planted. This follows his statements in December that only 35 out of 480 acres were levelled off. Chand also told this newspaper on Sunday that only “five workers” would be drafted into the rice venture.
“In one of the documents, they said that they will need about five workers because rice is highly mechanised,” the GAWU President pointed out.
Meanwhile, several former GuySuCo workers have told Guyana Times that they were coping at present, nearly one month after Government ended sugar operations at the Wales Sugar Estate. The workers, however, stressed that they were unsure how they would survive in the coming months.
It was after months of reiterated calls for engagement that several Government Ministers met with the parliamentary Opposition, GuySuCo, GAWU and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), to discuss the way forward for the sugar industry.
The Ministry of the Presidency had noted late last year that after the documents were perused, a suitable date and time for the next meeting would have been determined. However, the GAWU President explained on Sunday that this date was yet to be determined.
The long-awaited consultations were held on the very day that sugar operations at Wales ceased (December 31).
The Wales Sugar Estate is the oldest of the country’s estates and the shutting down of sugar operations were only confirmed after the story broke in a  Guyana Times report in January 2016. The closure has affected over 1000 workers directly and thousands more in Wales and surrounding communities.
Over the last several weeks, tractors have been seen transporting punts and other materials from the Wales Estate, reportedly to Uitvlugt and other Estates across the country.