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Floodwaters wash away $$M for businessman
When Canada-based businessman Mohamed Ishmail received a call from his homeland Guyana, he did not expect that on the other line would be someone informing him that his business there had suffered an extreme blow.
Employees removing damaged toilet paper from the factory.
But that was the news Ishmail, 57, received last Thursday following the rains that caused floods in large sections of Guyana.
Now, the businessman is counting his losses and trying to come to grips with the millions of dollars that were washed away with the floodwaters.
Ishmail is the owner of Cuddles Touch Incorporated located at Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara. According to Ishmail, the unexpected floodwaters of Thursday saw him losing approximately US$9000 or nearly $2M in toilet paper. He added that the cost of the paper is about US$1,500 per ton.
The man explained that he lives and works in Canada. He received a call on Thursday informing him of the circumstances. He explained that the entire street in which the business is located was flooded and that there was about 10 to 13 inches of water in the building.
He added that he was forced to make his way to Guyana to assess the damage. The sight which met him was a harrowing one. He said that the raw materials had been stacked in rows of four. While the higher rows were able to be saved, the bottom rows were completely destroyed.
Additionally, Ishmail said that equipment have been damaged and would require specialists coming in from Canada or India to conduct repairs. He said the two machines are fully computerized and are used for rewinding the paper. Without these machines, a finished product cannot be made, Ishmail said. He said too that these machines cost approximately 6M each.
Furthermore, the businessman is at his wit’s end since there will be no relief from his insurance company. He explained that the company emphasised that it could only offer fire and theft insurance but none for floods.
Since last week’s floods, Ishmail said that the company has been forced to shut down as cleanup efforts are being undertaken. Employees have also been out of work. These employees, Ishmail said, are paid weekly but could not be paid for the lost week since no work could have been done.
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