Barama closes plywood factory, lays off all 274 workers

Oct 15, 2010 News

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…as boiler system damaged through ‘negligence’
The local construction industry is expected to face significant fallout with yesterday’s news that Barama Company Limited (BCL) has closed its plywood factory following a boiler system setback which occurred at its Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara site last week Monday, October 4.
As a result, the company has confirmed that 274 factory workers are being sent home.
In a release to the media last evening, it was noted that “Barama Company Limited would like to inform all of its stakeholders of a recent incident that has resulted in the closure of the Plywood Factory and subsequent severe impact. The incident occurred on Monday October 4, 2010, and was caused by negligence on the part of trained and experienced personnel. Their negligence led to the boiler system not being fed with the required water supply and resulted in the over-heating of the system. This immediately resulted in the entire factory being shutdown.
The boiler system is considered the “heart of the factory” and would therefore result in this kind of shutdown. To date the company has carried an independent inspection of the state of the boiler system which has confirmed cause of the damage. This was followed by a domestic inquiry to determine what and who is responsible for this incident. Currently, the recommendations of the domestic inquiry are being reviewed and the company intends to follow the necessary courses of action against those responsible in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions.
As a result, the company immediately informed all the affected workers, Union, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Agriculture and the Guyana Forestry Commission about the incident and the findings. Several meetings were held with the aforementioned parties to consult and provide them with regular updates on progress being made.
Following these immediate actions, a representative of the boiler manufacturer was quickly brought in the country to assess the state (including cost) of the damage and to provide the company with the most feasible options to rectify the situation in the timeliest manner. The preliminary findings and recommendations deriving from this assessment have confirmed that the damage is severe and will require at least one year to rectify. The cost to rectify the problem is currently being assessed by the manufacturer.
Given the extensive period required to rectify this problem, the company has been forced to lay-off all of the 274 factory workers in accordance with the relevant laws of Guyana and the Collective Labour Agreement. The workers, Union, Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Agriculture and the Guyana Forestry Commission have been consulted on this course of action. As a corporate socially responsible company, it is intended that the workers will receive their full benefits which are set above the statutory provisions.”
Yesterday, BCL’s senior official, Mohindra Chand, said that the closure of the plywood factory is a “catastrophe” for the company.
It was also noted in the release that, “In addition to the immediate impact on the factory workers, it is foreseen that the impact will severely affect the company financially, the local and export markets, suppliers and service providers, neighbouring communities and the social well being of the families of the affected workers. Given the extensive impact of the shutdown period, the Ministry of Agriculture has commenced an Impact Assessment in consultation with the company. This will be followed by the examination of various options in cushioning the impacts and supporting the earliest regularization of the situation.
In moving forward, the company intends to work closely with the Government of Guyana and gives its fullest commitment in exploring all possible options in ensuring the reopening of the Plywood Factory within the most cost effective and timeliest manner.”
The company thanked all its workers for giving “their fullest support to our recently developed Plywood Revitalization Program which has shown positive results. This Program was abruptly disrupted by this unfortunate boiler incident.” Appreciation was also extended to the Government, Union, buyers, suppliers, service providers, communities and all other stakeholders for their support and understanding “in this time of need”.
BCL’s operations centre around the plywood factory with its satellite location in Buckhall, Essequibo River, making the veneer sheets, a critical component of plywood. The veneers are transported to Land of Canaan to be inserted between layers to make the plywood.
Plywood is a popular choice for homebuilders with the sheets being used to construct forms, building of ceilings and of cupboards.
This closure comes just weeks after the company reopened operations after authorities stepped in following the horrific death of a worker in a wood chipper at the Buckhall location.

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