Govt discrimination against sugar workers continuing

Nov 21, 2019 Letters

---

Dear Editor,

The GAWU indeed was saddened to learn of the situation facing the employees of Troy Resources Guyana Inc. The loss of jobs for hundreds of families is most distressing especially considering the situation of our times. We have seen from media reports that the Government has said it was caught unawares and deemed the layoffs as “unconscionable”. The media did report that the Company was contemplating its future; it appears to us that the Government wasn’t properly reading the tea leaves and was caught on the proverbial back foot. Certainly, we believe, in these times no measure, whatever the extremity, should be discounted. This appeared not to be the case in the Government’s camp.

The Government, we saw, in a statement on the matter which appeared in the November 20, Stabroek News pointed out that the Company’s decision comes “…as the world heads into the Christmas season…”. Indeed it is a sad time to be without a job when we expect to have the niceties of life to celebrate with those near and dear to us. According to Stabroek News report, the Government “…has appointed a sub-committee to further examine this matter and engage Troy Resources with a view to reactivating its mining operations expeditiously”. This is heartening news and we are hopeful that the Committee is most successful in its task to allow the workers to be re-employed within the shortest period.
But while the GAWU is pleased by the Government’s intervention on this matter, we note a complete 180 degree approach to the sugar industry and more so those affected by the Administration’s “unconscionable” decision to put 7,000 workers on the breadline. We must ask what happened to any committee, Cabinet or otherwise, set up by the Government to consider and examine the plight of these Guyanese. Aren’t they similarly deserving? Shouldn’t they and their families too have a happy, jolly Christmas too?
We need not forget, for the workers of Skeldon, Rose Hall and East Demerara it is now their second Christmas season since they lost their jobs and for those of Wales it is their third. Though much time has elapsed, the situation has only gotten worse. The November 17, Guyana Times reported after interviewing several ex-Wales workers that they feel neglected. The newspaper reported that “…the retrenched sugar workers said that they are still struggling to find jobs, awaiting the promise that they would be granted the plantation lands as was assured.” A worker, Chotoo, “[i]f you close it down, you supposed to give the people some sort of benefit. They work for years in the sugar industry. People deh all over the place looking for a job”.
We also saw that the report that the ex-workers shared “…that it was very difficult to send their children to school…”. One parent disclosed that her 14-year old son “…has been working in the afternoon to earn some extra money.” She shared that her husband who was previously working at Uitvlugt, was apparently let go after that estate indicated they hadn’t work for him. We also saw in the news report that “…young teenagers have resorted to selling ‘bird seeds’ and produce from their families’ kitchen gardens to offset educational expenses”.
It is laudable that the youngsters are seeking innovative and creative means to continue their schooling and seek to make something of their lives. But this shouldn’t be how our children in this 21st century must live. Obviously, their after-school work tasks will have affected their ability to diligently complete their school tasks. It would certainly take away their attention from their books as they have to focus on other things as well. It also robs them of their childhood and harms their socialization process which it is recognized is so important to their all round development.
President David Granger who is known for his embrace of national songs should remind himself of the words of the Song of Guyana’s Children. He and his colleagues would recall the song saying “Thus to the land which to us God has given, May our young lives bring a gift rich and rare, Thus, as we grow, may the worth of Guyana, Shine with a glory beyond all compare”. Those are sentiments that should not be treated lightly. It is the wish of all our nation’s children to go on to reach for the stars, attain their goals and live fulfilling and contented lives.
We saw in the November 17, Guyana Chronicle, Attorney-General, Basil Williams in an address to a meeting in West Berbice that the Coalition Government does not discriminate. Mr. Williams is quoted to have told the meeting that “…[y]ou have bright children, make sure that they are educated…”. Indeed, we have no doubt that those who the Attorney-General addressed have bright children and they deserve to be educated. But, in the same vein, they are many bright children in the sugar belt whose educational pursuits have been hamstrung, and in some cases truncated. Certainly, as Mr Williams put it “…they deserve to be educated” as well.
The Guyanese who exist in the displaced sugar communities are also in need of the Government’s support and assistance. They seek, like everyone else, to be happy and to enjoy the basic necessities of life. They seek that their children be educated, are fed and be good people. They seek that they and their families can live in peace and without undue pressure and hardship. Certainly, the Government, we reiterate, has a role and the continued ignorance of these Guyanese cannot be seen as anything less than discriminatory.
Yours faithfully,
Seepaul Narine
General Secretary
GAWU

---

---