Dear Editor,
Our union has noted reports appearing in several sections of the media concerning the press conference by the Alliance For Change (AFC) held on January 15, 2018 and more so, the comments made by leaders of that party with regard to the severance payments to the some 4000 sugar workers of Skeldon, Rose Hall and East Demerara Estates. The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) found the statements attributed to leaders of that party which has boasted about its links with the sugar workers as incredulous, to say the least, and they say a lot about the sincerity of the AFC’s concern about the plight of the sugar workers.
Agriculture Minister Noel Holder is quoted in the January 16, 2018 Guyana Times, as saying “[f]inding the $4.5 billion in severance is a difficult thing to do” but, seemingly, it was not difficult for the Minister and his colleagues to send home 4000 workers which have directly impacted the well-being of approximately 20,000 Guyanese men, women and children to the breadline. From the Minister’s perspective, using 1.8 per cent of the 2018 Budget in the interest of a large group of our citizens is a difficult thing to do. This is adding insult to injury now Minister Holder.
The Agriculture Minister didn’t stop there and according to the Guyana Times newspaper, he also is reported to have said “paying the entire severance amount was impossible” which seems to indicate that the Administration hadn’t any intention to fully settle its indebtedness to the workers. We cannot help but wonder what the Government had intended to do to the already beleaguered, now jobless, workers. Moreover, Minister Holder’s recent statements are also is in complete contrast to what he said in the December 22, 2017.
Then Minister Holder’s colleague, Natural Resources Minister and AFC Leader, Raphael Trotman, on January 16, 2018 in the media is quoted to say “[w]e knew we had to pay severance, we just weren’t sure where it would come from”. The statement by the AFC leader leaves us in disbelief and causes us to wonder if this is how the affairs of the State and the business of the people are managed. Clearly, the Administration needs to do a better job at dotting its Is and crossing its Ts.
At this time, GAWU recalls that the AFC in a statement issued on December 7, 2017, said among other things, “[t]he Party insists that as per the requirements in law, severance must be in place”. Based on the now admissions by the AFC leaders who are also Cabinet members, they were well aware that the call issued in their statement was utterly wrong and, therefore, participated actively to mislead and hoodwink the Guyanese people and more so the thousands in the sugar belt who are affected by the callous and cruel plans to minimise the sugar industry.
For GAWU, it is disheartening also to recognise that the AFC’s press conference took place on the same day that the world took time to pause and reflect on the life and work of Dr Martin Luther King whose advocacy on behalf of the downtrodden is well-known and which serves as an inspiration for the working and oppressed people of the world.
Yours faithfully,
Seepaul Narine
General Secretary
GAWU
