Sacked workers urged to enter small business sector

Workers who have been dismissed from the Skeldon Sugar Factory and the former Rose Hall Estate are being encouraged to develop new skills and to get into a business.
On Wednesday, the former workers benefited from a financial education forum — a collaborative effort between the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) and the Ministry of Business’s Small Business Bureau.
Chief Executive Officer of the Small Business Bureau, Dr. Lowell Porter, explained that the objective was to have an awareness programme so that the severed sugar workers would have an option relative to investing their severance pay.
“Where should I put my money? Or should I put it anywhere?” he asked

rhetorically. “Without this forum, those questions would never be answered,” he remarked.
The one-day financial, business and investment forum was held at the Skeldon Community Centre. Among those in attendance were commercial banks, insurance companies, the Private Sector Commission and the Guyana Stock Exchange.
According to Dr. Porter, the workers have already been dismissed, and persons need to make adjustments. He said there are opportunities out there, and the former employees might need some guidance to take advantage of them.
Initially, the former workers were particularly concerned about the future of their National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions, and whether they would have to continue making contributions if they were to start up a new business.
Regional Director of NIS, John Bishop, explained why many workers who have been attached to the sugar company have in the past had difficulty accessing their benefits.
According to him, because of the system which GuySuCo had in place for employment, many persons had falsified information to gain employment.

“So the information which you supplied does not correlate with now. So the question is: ‘who is to be blamed?’ Are we here to (apportion) blame? No, this is a critical juncture, where we shouldn’t be blaming anyone. What we should be doing is reconciling what we have with the NIS, ensuring that our information on the database is correct,” he explained.
However, Bobby Seepersaud, representing the insurance industry, said the NIS pays a pension which is equivalent to only 40 percent of a person’s wage, hence there is need to have an insurance plan which can back that up. He also noted that insurance can provide financial assistance in times of tragedy, and those who are injured and unable to work can still have their financial commitments met.
Meanwhile, General Manager of the Guyana Stock Exchange, George Edwards, explained how the stock exchange operates. He said it is somewhat different for purchasing ordinary shares from a company.
“While in the market out there you can go yourself, in the stock market, you have

to go through trained, qualified individuals,” he explained. Those individuals, he added, are called brokers.
Edwards advised persons who were going to put their money in the bank to take note of the interest rate which the bank will be offering, and not have their money there for safe-keeping.
Buying shares, he said, had an advantage over banking, in that the dividends paid to shareholders are tax-free, while in Guyana there is a 20 per cent tax on the interest paid to customers.
The forum had less than three dozen persons in attendance, and only two persons from the Rose Hall Estate.
Dr. Porter has said there will be follow-up programmes, since Wednesday’s could be considered a general forum. Those follow-up programmes will be done in the form of business clinics which address the specific needs of specific groups of persons who want to get into business, he explained.
“Let’s sit down one to one and find out what is it that you want to achieve, and we will see how we can assist you to get there,” he explained, while noting that the Small Business Bureau will back up with 40 per cent of the equality required by banks to obtain a loan, and the agency would assist with preparing business plans.