Former workers demand land, severance

Wales Estate closure…

Having entered another year without the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) paying them their severance benefits, sugar workers formerly attached to the now defunct Wales Estate claim they had enough and on Wednesday expressed anger at the situation taking into account their colleagues at other estates are being paid their termination benefits. The workers voiced their disdain at a job fair organised by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) to provide information for unemployed persons on the West Bank Demerara.

The sugar workers who spent much of their working life at the Wales Estate are demanding answers as to when they will be paid their benefits. They contended that they are finding much difficulty in providing for themselves and family.
“Meh nah get me severance. I punishing right now. If I get the money, I could turn over and do a lil business,” former Wales worker Michael Chootoo noted.
Some 375 Wales workers are without their benefits after they refused to take up employment at the Wales Estate on the contention that they cannot be compelled, under law, to travel 22 miles from their original place of work to the Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara estate. As time elapsed, GuySuCo opted against paying the benefits and the matter was taken to court sometime around March 2017. Now that 10 months have passed, the High Court is yet to call the matter for hearing. In the meantime, however, the Wales workers have not been paid their termination benefits and are annoyed that retrenched Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon workers have been receiving their severance.

“Imagine is only a month now and Enmore done getting pay off, plus they got investor for them still get job but here you not got job or money, that is not fair,” a father of four, Floyd Dick explained, adding that one of his children is writing the CXC examinations later this year. He also noted that his wife is now the principal breadwinner, which according to him, is affecting his position as the man in the family.
With a great expression of emotion, another dismissed worker, Salim Haniff, said he feels displaced and disadvantaged by Government’s decision in 2016 which saw Wales Estate shutting down operations. Haniff claimed the closure and non-payment of severance is a matter of discrimination.
“How must I tell my children that I cannot find food for them when the President of this country said that we would get a better life. This is victimisation and bullyism. The people from Berbice get their severance before Wales,” the frustrated worker pointed out.
The workers also feel that land should be allocated to them to go into farming and other projects in order for them to provide for their families.
“GuySuCo got all that land at the back there and I spoke to a businessman is a booth saying that he need mangoes and pineapples to buy but I have no land. All dem big business people got land but they aint giving the youngsters,” Andy McPherson told Guyana Times at the PSC job fair on Wednesday.
Now that estate closures have become a reality, there have been calls for GuySuCo to lease its lands to former workers to enter alternative business operations. However the Estates of Wales, Rose Hall, Skeldon and East Demerara (Enmore) are now under management the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICL) and it is not clear what decisions will be made by the State-owned company.
Earlier this week, Government commenced a payout of almost $2 billion as severance to thousands of dismissed sugar workers across the Rose Hall, Skeldon and East Demerara (Enmore) Estates. Earlier this month, it was disclosed to the National Assembly that dismissed sugar workers at these three estates whose severance packages are $500,000 or less would be paid in full by January 31 and that workers receiving in excess of aforementioned sum, would attain 50 per cent of their severance benefits. However, the workers at Wales are questioning just when they would receive their payments.
The December 31, 2016, Wales Estate closure was seen as a cost-saving measure due to billions of dollars that were allocated to the declining sugar industry and nearly 4000 workers from Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon were dismissed late last year, in a move to reorganise the industry.

The workers are also calling on GAWU’s President Komal Chand to make a statement on the matter as they have not seen or heard from him directly in recent times.