More than one month after the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) commenced its investigation into a flying knives incident at the Uitvlugt Estate, the report remains incomplete.
However, Guyana Times was reliably informed that two senior officials were sent on administrative leave on Monday. An individual familiar with the probe stated that the individuals sent on leave are the maintenance supervisor and engineer at the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate.
In August, the Number Two Turbine encountered a mishap and several knives became loose and went flying through the air in the direction of factory workers. This stalled cane production for over a week which resulted in losses and affected
Uitvlugt Estate, West Coast Demerara (Agriculture Ministry photo)
the Estate’s ability to achieve its target.
“The investigation on the Number Two turbine is not concluded but we have to know who’s at fault. It is either mechanical or human error,” a source close to the investigation updated.
Guyana Times was told on Wednesday that as the probe nears its end, some five managers were recently interviewed at Uitvlugt Estate, include the two senior operatives, who were reportedly sent on leave. Information recently disclosed revealed that these very managers were among those slated to be called into GuySuCo’s Head Office at La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara, to be part of the main investigator’s final assessment of the incident, wherein it could be determined if sanctions would be imposed. Though it has not been confirmed when that “final assessment” will take place, this publication was told that several Uitvlugt Estate managers were called to GuySuCo’s headquarters for a meeting on Wednesday morning.
“Every single manager is at LBI at a high [level] meeting; all the managers gone to the meeting… the estate manager, the agriculture manager, factory manager, finance manager, human resources manager, all deputies, about 10 persons gone there,” a GuySuCo functionary indicated.
This publication attempted to secure confirmation and clarification from Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) and Finance Director Paul Bhim on these reports but calls to his number went unanswered. However, an Uitvlugt executive attached to that very meeting claimed, on the condition of anonymity, that Wednesday’s gathering was geared for “training”. In the last several weeks, GuySuCo has had little to say on the mishap which posed a danger to the lives of many workers. When the investigation commenced, GuySuCo did tell the public that the probe was underway but observed that it was viewing the fault as an “engineering matter”.
The Sugar Corporation had also told the public that senior managers and several senior engineers will investigate the matter along with managers from the human resources and health and safety departments. The original investigation which was initially set to last for about three weeks was crafted to determine just how the cane shredder became uncontrollable and 64 out of 70 knives went haywire.
As reported previously, workers ducked for safety when the knives hit the wall and the machine was immediately shut down for over a week. However, several tonnes were able to be salvaged after the estate’s turbine had to be replaced with one from the defunct La Bonne Intention (LBI) factory.
Nevertheless, the grains garnered were of a substandard quality, as the sugar was “grainy” as opposed to coarse crystals which are consistent with a higher quality of produce. GuySuCo’s Chief Industrial Relations Manager, Deodat Sukhoo, had been selected to head the probe into the flying knives incident.
There were initial inquiries by senior officers of GuySuCo who visited the Uitvlugt factory when it broke down and millions of dollars’ worth of cane was initially left to spoil However, several tonnes were later saved after Guyana Times reported the matter. The damage to the cane shredder resulted in millions of dollars in losses, at the expense of the State via taxpayers’ dollars. (Shemuel Fanfair)
