The revitalisation of the Sugar Industry is a must

Jun 14, 2021 Letters

Dear Editor,
No one can argue with what was recently reported in the press, that is, the findings of the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO), that “… has pointed to an increase in the rates of suicide, crime, and alcohol consumption in communities that relied heavily on the sugar estates for their livelihood that were closed by the Coalition government.” In fact, the day before, I did read a letter in one of the dailies, that the planned reopening of the Enmore Sugar Estate will redound into a better society.
It is universally accepted that “Being unemployed is associated with a two-fold to three-fold increased relative risk of death by suicide, compared with being employed.”
Locally, the ILO stated that “Entire communities were sent into depression.” This was the emphatic conclusion of local economist, Dr. Thomas B. Singh, who authored the socio-economic impact study, which was sponsored by the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO).
I need to emphasise that this is not some whimsical ‘guess work’.
The findings cover at least 5,000 sugar workers, their families, and their communities. These workers, as we all recall, in 2016 and 2017, were callously dismissed by the former A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, when they closed the sugar estates at Wales, Enmore, Rose Hall and Skeldon. This widespread closure, as the report pointed out, “… was also so disruptive to those economies, that the households of many of the affected workers could have been driven into poverty traps.”
The actual money stats read quite frightening: “… weekly household income had fallen by 64 percent, from an average of G$32,238 to G$18,450.” Let us bear in mind that “… the majority of dismissed workers were fathers, who were the sole breadwinners of their families.”
So, the APNU+AFC, without a doubt, wrecked not only the daily lives of these workers in a financial way, but made negative inroads in the student children population, whose education, at a young age, had to be seriously compromised, and maybe permanently so.
I need not belabour the point, but suffice it to say that a Crudele report states that in the United States, “Every one percent rise in unemployment leads to 40,000 deaths.” These deaths, it was pointed out, had nothing to do with Covid-19 virus and a distressed economy.
I add that unemployment has both individual and social consequences that require public policy interventions. For the individual, unemployment can cause psychological distress, which can lead to a decline in life satisfaction. It can also lead to mood disorders and substance abuse.
I must commend the Government for its immediate intervention, in revitalising sugar and estate employment, on assuming office. This must be pursued until all the estates are fully operating.
Yours truly,
Attiya Baksh

Latest News

The revitalisation of the Sugar Industry is a must

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 10th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

National basketball team down to 15 after intense trials

Terrence Ali National Open schedule to fist off...

Foreign Link players call for Darts Association...

Race for GFF Elite League qualification narrows...

BCB organize practice session for female...

Archery Guyana makes history with Physiotherapist...

Features/Columnists

Members of the National Assembly should exercise civility towards their peers

Clarifying misconceptions about the Panama Canal

Renegotiation – working with and within, the contract

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

The revitalisation of the Sugar Industry is a must

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | January, 10th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]