Barama slashes workforce by one-third

Nov 29, 2019 News

Almost a third of the workforce of plywood makers, Barama Company Limited (BCL), has been laid off as of this week.

The Land of Canaan facilities of Barama Company Limited

The news would come as Australian-owned Troy Resources, also announced recently that it has sent home over 300 workers from its Region 7 operations after a deadly mining incident triggered a shutdown.
Yesterday, BCL Country Manager, Mohindra Chand, confirmed the grim news that the company has sent home 80 skilled and unskilled workers.
Since giving up its forestry concessions of 1.6M hectares in 2016, the Malaysian-owned timber company has been struggling to find its footing in an increasingly competitive world.
The investors were not plugging in more money, and in a last-ditch attempt, local management, to keep the factories afloat, has been working to increase its local market shares.
The big problem, Chand admitted yesterday, is the high cost of producing the plywood in Guyana. Electricity and transportation costs have been burdening the Land of Canaan-headquartered entity.
The company has been buying from local loggers who have been supplying the Baramalli logs that are needed for the production.

Country Manager, Mohindra Chand

According to Chand, the local market did not make purchases as expected and the export market has also been taking a beating.
To compound matters, other alternatives like PVC ceilings have been eroding the local market of BCL.
Chand said that the decision was a highly regrettable but “unavoidable” one.
Barama had, until a week ago, about 230 staffers.
In 2016, BCL in relinquishing its concessions, which it held since in the early 90s, indicated that it would continue its value added forestry production which included sawmilling, plywood manufacturing and veneering.
BCL had said then that world prices and significant challenges have forced it to rethink its operations here. It has sawmills and a veneer plant at Buck Hall, Essequibo River, as well as sawmills and a plywood factory at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara.

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