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Jagdeo was wrongly advised on the construction of Skeldon factory
Dear Editor,
Since 2005, the Skeldon Sugar Factory has been the source of main concern to many because their future relies heavily on that factory or it could somehow affect them directly or indirectly and its problems automatically deflect on estate factories and affect them also. It all began when the then President Jagdeo was either ill-advised or with his own devious scheme contracted a Chinese firm to handle the development of the Skeldon Estate.
This was even though the proof was there to be seen that it would be a disaster and there are better firms that could have handled that burden and make it a success; especially bidder/s from India that have a more decent track record. Some twenty-two odd years later many are still treading cautiously, because they are fearful of waking one day to hear that the factory is closed.
Now the future of many, the factory and the outcome with all its faults should be blamed directly on Jagdeo should anything disastrous happen.
Editor, I am not blaming Jagdeo for all the problems GuySuCo is facing because there are many other issues that could be dealt with, but because of ill advice we are seeing the demise of various estates. In previous letters I’ve spoken about workers’ attitudes and the effects of their attitudes toward their duties.
Since the closure of the Wales Factory, the affected workers there were given the offer of being employed at Uitvlugt Estate but it seems that they are being advised by some destructive elements with sinister intentions for the future of the sugar industry and Guyana’s economy as a whole.
Cane-cutters in Guyana enjoy benefits that a majority of workers in Guyana cannot even come close to enjoying, like transportation to/from work sites, transportation from/to home when they have to collect salary, medical benefits, working hours etc., but still they seem to be heeding the advice to seek more.
Many of us have family/relatives/friends in other countries and would hear that whilst the money might be better, chances are that the conditions are worse off than what we are complaining about here.
Whilst many from the Wales Estate refuse to travel to work at Uitvlugt Estate because of the distance which is roughly one-hour drive, many in other countries especially in the USA have to travel for hours to and from their jobs and when they call home to Guyana to find out about the well-being of Guyanese, they are being told that ‘things hard’.
I’ve learnt that whilst many from the Wales estate refuse to work at Uitvlugt, some went and their work methods are more efficient than the workers of Uitvlugt. In the estates, some are being paid a day’s pay of approximately two thousand dollars to catch rats in the cane fields with the promise of bonus/incentives if the catching of rats exceeds certain amounts.
Over the years, many working there never earned the bonus/incentives. However the Uitvlugt workers were amazed when the Wales workers came and caught more rats in one day, than what the rat catching gang from Uitvlugt would in one whole week.
These actions make me wonder if they are serious about the future of the sugar industry and if their action is not effecting the industry directly or are they just being foolishly led to the downfall of the industry by others? That is just one issue that I choose to write about but there are many others that need to be dealt with. For example, the worker who is supposed to be working but is not going to work and still being paid.
Perhaps the managers could go by his bar in Uitvlugt and join the Supervisors/Foremen going there almost daily to consume alcohol and query from them.
Sahadeo Bates
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