False promises galore for sugar workers

Feb 04, 2020 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

Sugar workers have been treated as second-class citizens by APNU+AFC. They have been lied to and cheated on the last five years. During that time, David Granger never once acknowledged their plight. Suddenly, it is election time and Granger and APNU+AFC are twisting themselves like a good American pretzel making more false promises to the sugar workers, not only reaffirming their second-class citizens treatment, but now treating them like they are stupid.
For five years, they did nothing to give the sugar workers land, which they promised them in 2016. Boom, its election time and David Granger is promising them land again. It is utterly insulting and indecent. We must call a spade a spade. Even as that fake promise is made once again, none of them in APNU+AFC has addressed my prediction – Uitvlugt and Blairmont are not guaranteed survival under any future APNU+AFC government. None of them so far has dared to guarantee that these estates are safe.
At its most recent rally, held at Leonora, David Granger promised, if his government was to return to power after March 2, 2020, APNU+AFC would ensure sugar workers who lost their jobs because of the heartless closure of sugar estates will be given land for agriculture purposes.
When the Wales Estate was closed in 2016, four years ago, the more than 2,500 sugar workers who had to fight for their severance payments were told the sugar cane cultivation land would be distributed to them, so they could start over. Four years have gone, some of the land has been given to friends of the government, but not an acre has been given to any of the sugar workers who lost their jobs and their livelihood.
In 2016, APNU+AFC spent more than $150M preparing 1,000 acres, they said, for rice cultivation, which will hire some of the laid-off sugar workers. They also said they spent $60M to start aquaculture. It is four years, the land has been taken over by weeds, not a grain of rice, or a single fish has been produced.
For four years, Granger never mentioned anything about these poor workers and their families. Suddenly, faced with a massive defeat on March 2, he again makes the same old, empty promise – “vote for me and I will give you land”.
These sugar workers have lived in poverty the last four years. Granger never made a single step towards them, never mentioned their plight, never sent his ministers to talk with the sugar workers. For four years, reports after reports documented the poverty, the hungry children not being able to go to school, yet no one from the insensitive government ever showed up.
Granger and APNU+AFC bragged about buses, bicycles, boats and free breakfast, but these are alien things to the workers and their families – they have never seen any of these things. They were treated as second-class citizens. After breaking their promise to give the land to the sugar workers, betraying them and their families, for four long years, it is election time and, boom, Granger now promises them they will get the land if they vote for him and APNU+AFC. Is there anything less dishonest than this?
At the Leonora rally, Mr. Granger pointedly told people, to use his own words, he “preserved” sugar in Guyana. He did not say sorry to the almost 9,000 sugar workers who lost their jobs and the almost 40,000 family members who suddenly found themselves in abject poverty. For four years, Granger ignored sugar workers, placed them in poverty and now demands praise because in his own warped mind he “preserved” the industry. He closed four estates, fired 9,000 workers, sugar production fell to a low not seen for a hundred years. Yet Granger had the audacity to boast he “preserved” sugar. It is shameful and shameless at the same time. It is dishonest claiming credit for a disaster that impoverished 40,000 people and that imperiled the livelihood of thousands of others.
Small shopkeepers are struggling because their little shops are barely active, since customers can no longer support the business. Market vendors have seen their livelihood shocked, because their customers can no longer afford to buy products. The seamstresses and the tailors, the taxi drivers in these communities have seen their businesses collapse like falling dominoes. Not a word of apology, not a word of distress from the man who lorded over his citizens like he was their King.
While making his empty promise of land for the laid-off sugar workers, he never uttered a word of what support he will give to these unemployed workers. He never asked how they survived the last four years. He did not care all this time, but he makes another empty promise and fully expects these workers to believe him. But these workers are not fools; they will reject him, like they did in November 2018 at the local government elections.
After all, Guyanese do value honesty, decency and integrity and they do not need to be told by anyone that the Granger-led APNU+AFC is the very ugly picture and definition of indecency, dishonesty and absolute lack of integrity.
Dr. Leslie Ramsammy

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