Ex-sugar workers barely scraping to survive By Malisa Playter Harry

Sep 29, 2018 News

---

When you hear the words poverty and hardships, the two have always accompanied each other but while it may be just words for some, it has become a harsh reality for many.
It was a visit to the homes of some of the now unemployed sugar workers in Skeldon that this publication saw the circumstances some of the ex-workers are forced to endure. A shaken wooden structure with a hole in the floor is home to seven, including an elder suffering from a stroke and four children. Inside, there is a stained sponge for the four children and their parents to rest. It was two visible cases of what poverty has done for the unemployed adults.
Melissa Sinclair, 25 of Number 77 Village, with her one year old infant tucked on her hips and her three, six and eight year olds walking beside her, took us to her home in the housing scheme where she said she began building “piece by piece” with her husband when they were working at the Skeldon Sugar Factory. She added that since she and her husband received their severance letters and half of their payments, it has been a struggle to get by daily.
Upon arrival at her home, what stood out was the small, unpainted wooden structure that had a zinc sheet nailed across the window and a step that could be described as a ladder leading to a door-less building with tattered and torn fabrics hanging as curtains. To get into the house was a struggle, with Sinclair’s older children assisting their three year old sister up while their mother clutched their one year old sister in her arms and kneeled her way up the ‘treaders’. Inside the house had only a rugged, stained sponge to sleep on, a kerosene stove and a gasoline container nearby along with a visible hole in the flooring that was covered with a ply-board.
She sat on her make-shift step as she relayed how difficult it has been for her, her husband and their children since losing her job at the sugar factory. A typical day for her she said starts early, preparing whatever there is available to eat for her husband and children while she eats nothing, “just fuh mek sure they get enough, I does most times don’t eat in the morning”. They may be lucky enough to get a second meal at dinner if her husband “catches his hand at a lil wuk” during the day but it is the neighbours and people that assist with clothing, food and money on many days.

According to Sinclair, she worked in the fertilizer gang at the Skeldon Factory and was building “piece by piece” but since being laid off, works on the building has seized since whatever finances accumulated had to be converted to home use for the family. There is no toilet and bathroom she said but added that they would utilize the neighbours latrine while they have baths in the night and before sunrise, downstairs in the yard.
She stressed that the situation has also taken a toll on her marriage, causing constant fights in the home “because things just na guh right, if dem children sick and you kerr dem hospital, sometime dem na get the drugs and you got to go buy it but then we na get the money so we can’t buy the drugs for me sick children.” Sinclair said that added with medical expenses, she still has to send her children to school, “sometimes, we does got to beg for money and borrow but if me got to do that and eat salt and rice I gon do it until me can get a job and me husband can get a stable job”. According to her, her children stayed away for two weeks when school re-opened because they did not have school clothing, bags, shoes and books. She revealed that her dream is to one day live in a home that is comfortable for her family but her dream was put on hold when she and her husband lost their jobs. Sinclair added that she is willing to accept guidance on ways of improving her life and if possible assistance to get her on her feet.
Meanwhile, just a few streets away in the same village lives another ex-worker who lives with his father who suffers from a stroke, his two children below the ages of 10, his two nephews also under 10 and one of his brothers. A home circle of seven and no-one is employed. Kevin Singh, 31, who worked as a Cap Stand Operator at the Skeldon Factory for over 12 years, said he received his severance letter and his severance owed to him but life has been a constant battle. His father, age 66, suffering from a stroke to him being tasked with the responsibility to take care of everyone in the household since the mother of his children left and his nephews had no-one to take care of them, with their father working at sea as a fisherman and their mother is absent. Singh said his mother assisted with taking care of the children while he ventured out to seek a job but since she passed a few weeks ago, it has been a “rollercoaster” for him. They currently survive on his father’s pension while he searches for a job to cushion the financial burdens. Their home on the inside had no bedrooms but only a stained mattress on a rusted bed frame, a makeshift kitchen counter, a television and a crooked dresser. There, the four children sat gleefully and quiet watching cartoons.
According to Singh, “it is really tough because whatever little we have we got to utilize it because we can’t save, the kids dem got to go to school. When my father get his pension, I does use it to buy the month groceries for we and that is what bringing we up all the time.” He added that vacancies for jobs are scarce and would often times push him to work odd jobs, such as weeding and the cleaning of drains. He revealed that the situation has taken a toll on him mentally because “without a job, four kids and my father to take care of, it real rough. It does hurt me when dem kids does wake up in the night sometimes and seh dem hungry; it frustrating.” As Singh spoke, his stroke stricken father was in tears, listening to his son speak of his struggles. The ex-worker explained that his only desire is to have a stable job to assist with the finances.
Meanwhile, other ex-workers took to the streets in front of the Skeldon Sugar Factory last week to protest for the remainder of their severance payments. Many expressed that they are finding it very difficult to find jobs and to sustain their livelihood while some said they practically live on one meal per day.

 

---

---