Roads, trade unions and foreign companies

Mar 03, 2019 Features / Columnists

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By Leonard Gildarie

Writing weekly in a manner where I have to take my hat off as a journalist and become a commentator is a tricky walk. There is a natural inclination for the latter to be a little…well, more liberal. We are all humans.
One of my weaknesses is this country. I have been privileged to walk many parts of this land, and there is a beauty that cannot be described. I can’t tell you enough of the air, the mountains in the horizon or the black water that flows from the backdam. I can’t describe the joy of waking next to flowing waters with rustling leaves close by.
I can tell you about the pain of our people, of the growing number of single parents,
and of the fact that we need help to increase our capacity.
I can tell you that there are thousands of Guyanese who would not leave the backdam where gold is found for nothing.
I can tell you that we have made some unforgivable missteps in demanding that we get a fair deal.
The days of begging investors to come are gone. We have companies knocking to come in. We now have to weigh carefully how to deal with it and how to ensure that we get the best deal.
This past week has been a lesson.
On Sunday, I was taking the family to the seawall when at the Demerara Harbour Bridge we ran into a long line of traffic. It was about 5pm. I sat for 30 minutes without any movement in the traffic. Nothing was going and nothing was coming.
I learnt that a truck with equipment was on its side at McDoom, about two miles away.
I managed to divert instead to the West Bank. It was quick thinking that saved me from wasting my valuable off-day.
For two hours, the traffic backed up as authorities attempted to remove the equipment.
This is a major problem that our thinkers will have to take notice of.
We are moving rapidly into oil. Traffic and the population will see rapid growth.
It is frightening from a standpoint of security and other commercial and logistical reasons for there to be one road.
That is why another Demerara River crossing and that alternative highway aback of the housing schemes on the East Bank leading to Ogle is so important. In fact, they have to become priority projects.
So many things are at stake here. Passengers in the line to catch a flight. An ambulance caught in the melee. A group of gunmen attacking a village but no police or joint services forces can reach them.
We can go on and on.
At the Railway Embankment line, a man lit some tyres and the flames halted traffic on the East Coast. Traffic had to be diverted to the East Coast public road, but there are construction works there.
The frustration and wear and tear of vehicles are but part of what is lost.
We can look at the Demerara Harbour Bridge, which is more than 40 years old. It was supposed to last for 10. It has long outlived its lifespan, thanks to some good engineers and managers. I worry about it closing for a few days for reasons beyond control.
We have no ferries at Vreed-en-Hoop, where the speedboats are, and it is cramped for parking space. Unthinkable!
We have to move fast and start on the construction works soonest.
On a two-lane road, I saw four lanes last Sunday. Our drivers are not the most disciplined. It is not about more police ranks in the short term to deal with the situation.
It is just our current capacity to handle the volume of traffic efficiently.
Moving on to the current happenings, the news was dominated by occurrences in the bauxite sector. We wrote about this last week. It would have happened eventually. Something had to give.
I sat at Critchlow Labour College and smiled. In the room were representatives of the major unions. Next to Lincoln Lewis sat Komal Chand, two giants in the trade union world. For years, there were tensions between the respective union bodies, they headed because of different political ideology, among other things. The Rusal situation has galvanized them to action.
One foreign company has done what no political leader could have done. Brought them together. History was being made and few persons took notice. But I smiled. Our country is maturing.
The unions converged in front of Rusal’s offices on Forshaw Street, Queenstown, where a picketing exercise was bringing more awareness to the plight of workers.
On Friday, union officials then travelled to Kwakwani, Region 10, where they met with bauxite workers who were illegally fired from Rusal, leading to the current standoff.
Among the unions’ leaders were women, including one from the Guyana Teachers’ Union.
As we write, the Berbice River has been blocked off by workers and residents of Kwakwani who refuse to be intimidated by the Russians.
The unions are singing the same song. That all foreign companies here are welcomed. However, there must be respect for the workers. The labour laws must be respected.
The necessary rules of engagement must be observed.
The union and the company have been asked by the Department of Labour to meet tomorrow. It would be a sad day for Rusal to refuse to meet, as they have been known to do in the past.
Government’s patience is wearing thin. They are examining Rusal’s operations.
On the international scene, Rusal’s track record of disrespect for locals and closer to home, in Jamaica, must be noted. It tells a story of how one company seems to be stuck in the colonial days or worse yet, slavery.
I am repeating. Guyana is welcoming all and sundry to come here to partner with us.
We are not asking for exploitation. We are asking for partnership. A fair deal.
We have what you want. Let us sit at the table and talk about the mutual benefits.
Our people don’t want crumbs.
It also means that our regulators, our negotiators, must also understand that they are politicians. They are not expert financial people. Leave that to the folks who know.
There is a whole specialized field of negotiators who could be hired to do so and even manage the proceeds for a fee. We are moving in that direction. However, we don’t want to close the stable doors when the horse has already bolted, do we?

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