Troy kept workers who had nothing to do for months

Nov 23, 2019 Letters

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Dear Editor,

A lot of negative comments and rumours have been said and written in the media over the past weeks about Troy Resources, without many actually knowing the reality of working at Troy; a company that has been struggling financially but has a CEO who truly cares about the workers.
As a former employee with firsthand experience, I have read all of it, and is now doing something I should have done much sooner, so that the reality is out there for everyone to know and realize, instead of just listening and believing the lies and rumours from bitter people with ulterior motives.
The company undoubtedly pays one of the best salaries in Guyana which results in all employees being able to enjoy a very comfortable standard of living. To help employees grow and develop, it provides safety and job related training to all, beginning from the first day of work, and strives to ensure that the working environment is safe and well for working.
It flies in workers every day to and from the mine site, provides air-conditioned rooms and three meals per day to all employees from a kitchen run by Maggies- all of these are provided free to everyone.
To add to this, everyone has access to the bar, gym, barbecue area. There is also a medical facility for workers and persons from the neighbouring community.
How many other companies in Guyana can people work for that provide such facilities to their workers plus pay exceptionally high salaries?
The recent accident was very sad and unfortunate. But it was also very unfortunate and disappointing to see a Minister make such a poor, unconscionable decision that resulted in hundreds of workers being laid off.
Clearly, he did not think of the consequences of his actions and how much it would have affected workers as well as the operations and income of the company.
How did he expect the company to make money and pay employees if it was ordered to stop all work?
Troy is a stickler in complying with the law, both in Australia and in Guyana.
So every action, decision and ensuing result is published and released on its website.
Perhaps, if those sections that rushed to peddle lies and sensationalism had taken the time to do some fact checking, they would have realized the truth and also the fact that the company had been facing financial challenges for a long time, but with the expertise and competence of a committed Board, barely managed to stay on top of things.
But perhaps the basic logic of doing some fact checking and researching before spreading misleading information, eludes many.
Almost everyone in the company is aware that for many months now there was the need to lay off a large number of employees who had nothing to do at work, but instead, the CEO opted for keeping them on as he was concerned about their livelihoods.
I am not sure if anyone out there has realized that the most recent decision by the company will actually help cushion the monetary setback for everyone who were laid off, despite the company needing funding to restart.
The company could have chosen to bring on back all employees now, which means that they would not have any salaries until mid-December and also terminate them all later by giving them the one months’ notice, which means they would have to go back to work before they got any money.
But instead, they have terminated all who were laid off and will pay out the salary for one month, instead of giving the one month notice, as well as pay out the required severance benefits.
This will no doubt ease people’s financial stress in a big way if they thought about it, until re-hiring starts.
There is also some consolation in the message to workers that the company will re-hire, starting in the near future.
If this wasn’t the case, why would they have more than 100 employees still working? I urge right thinking individuals to believe in the start-up, it is actually a good deal and will still benefit my fellow Guyanese when it happens, rather than say irresponsible things to frustrate and discourage the company from staying in Guyana.
Is anyone thinking that the company can actually decide to pack up and leave Guyana, given all the false and distorted information that is being peddled about it to tarnish its reputation? Is anyone thinking that if that were to happen, Guyana and Guyanese will be the losers and Troy will move on and find other projects in other countries given its expertise in the industry?
Is anyone thinking about the message that Guyana and Guyanese are sending to foreign investors with the way that we are dealing with Troy and how this bodes for investor confidence in Guyana?
How many Guyanese have the expertise and capability to construct mines to the likes of Troy Resources if foreign companies are pushed out?
Or is it that Guyanese prefer to sit on the natural resources and wait for a genie to harness the natural wealth and develop Guyana overnight?
Also, I am not sure that everyone has seen the report of another fatality caused by pit collapse recently which earned a small mention in this newspaper, November 12, 2019.
There was no union uproar, no comments from people like Mr Lewis, who claim they care about people (whether they are unionized or not) and no shut down by Government.
Is it that one life is not as important as another?
Proud former Troy employee
(Name withheld)

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