Cabinet to make final decision next week

Future of sugar industry

Based on presentations made by the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Special Purpose Unit (SPU) of the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL), Cabinet will make a final decision on the divestment plans for the local sugar industry next week.
Agriculture Minister Noel Holder told Guyana Times on Wednesday that members of the Cabinet were in receipt of these presentations and would make a collective decision on the future of the East Demerara (Enmore), Uitvlugt and Rose Hall Sugar Estates, as well as the Skeldon Factory.
Holder claimed that the approximately 4000 sugar workers would be eligible for severance pay. Hundreds of workers have already been issued termination letters since last year. While some have already stopped working, there are many more set to become unemployed this month.
“The others would have been retained, some by the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA); the Ministry of Health centres; community centres; and community personnel required to maintain the assets until divestment is finalised,” the Minister told this publication.
Despite the Government’s aggressive move to shut down the industry, many civil society bodies and other interest groups have been urging them to rethink its decision and to implement plans that would tackle the welfare of workers. The Private Sector Commission (PSC) had highlighted that come 2018, it would be, in fact, 5000 sugar workers who would be left unemployed if Wales was factored into the current numbers.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, at a press conference on Tuesday, made a commitment to better the lives of sugar workers if his Party was re-elected to office. He noted that the persons who lost their jobs as a result of the closure of the industry were unlike any other person who has lost their jobs because they depended entirely on the industry for their daily survival.
The former Head of State said the decision by the Government to terminate thousands of sugar workers was not one of economics or technicality but a political one. The Government, according to Jagdeo, callously informed the workers about their termination in the middle of the festive season, and he hinted that that was unconscionable. He further noted that there was a state of depression in the sugar belt.
The Opposition Leader also promised the sugar workers that the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) would work with them through this time of hardship and would represent them at all levels. He asserted that sugar workers should be treated the same way other groups of workers were treated under the PPP’s rule, hinting at the water and electricity subsidies provided to former bauxite workers.
“The Government did not have to terminate the employees; by doing so, the Government has devalued the estates.”
The Opposition Leader has repeated calls for prompt payment of severance for the sugar workers, stating that it was the duty of the Government to do retraining of the workers, because there were monies in the Budget for retraining, but very little monies were flowing to the sugar belt.
In May 2017, Government announced plans to close the Enmore and Rose Hall Sugar Estates, sell the Skeldon Sugar Factory, reduce the annual production of sugar, and take on the responsibility of managing the drainage and irrigation services offered by GuySuCo.
In November 2017, GuySuCo announced plans to retrench 2500 workers by the end of the year. The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) says the downsizing and subsequent closure of sugar estates would lead to the loss of more than 15,000 jobs, and the potential threat of poverty for 50,000 to 100,000 people.
The decisions announced by Government were met with various protest actions throughout 2017. In December 2016, another estate, Wales, was shut down and to date, many workers have not received severance payment. This matter is still before the courts awaiting another hearing.