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Skeldon factory worker electrocution…Workers down tools, demand full investigation
The troubled Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) continues to plunge deeper into the mire. This time the company is making the headlines with the electrocution of one of its young and promising employees. Ulric Leonard Johnson, a 23-year-old electrician who would have celebrated his 24th birthday yesterday, was electrocuted on Saturday while at work at the trouble plagued, newly constructed Skeldon Sugar Factory.
Ulric Leonard Johnson
According to relatives, Johnson, of Leeds Village, Corentyne had been working with the Corporation for about five years.
His death is reportedly the first industrial accident for the year, giving the Corporation another first all for the wrong reasons.
It is understood that Johnson was electrocuted around 10:00 hrs.
It is not clear how the young man met his demise, as GuySuCo has not said anything, except that the enterprising young man was fully clad in his safety gear, contrary to a previous media report.
“The Corporation wishes to categorically state that the employee was outfitted with all the necessary protective wear and equipment for him to safely perform the task assigned to him. The dead employee had performed similar tasks before, and was quite familiar with the necessary safety precautions,” GuySuCo stated.
But according to some of his colleagues he was hit by over 138,000 volts and was killed instantly.
As a result of the young’s man death the entire factory population of the Skeldon Estate took strike action on Monday demanding answers and a full investigation into Johnson’s death.
The workers promise to continue their strike action until something tangible is forth coming from the Sugar Corporation.
When Kaieteur News visited the Skeldon Estate location a few workers were seen milling around, as their protest action had ended for the day.
Representatives in the GAWU office refused to divulge any information as they stated that they were too upset to speak. They too were citing a Kaieteur News earlier article on the matter.
At the victim’s home his former colleagues were in attendance making preparation for the wake. They were also very upset with the situation and at first refused to speak.
The victim’s father, Hilary Johnson, told Kaieteur News that his son was his second child and the only one employed in the family although all his other children ages 26, 22, and 20 are educated. They simply cannot find jobs.
The man said that he was not at home, but his wife got word that her son was involved in a minor accident at his work site and was at the Skeldon hospital. When she arrived there she was not allowed to see him.
The family is calling on the relevant authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.
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