Severed sugar workers to receive $250,000 grant. – VP Jagdeo announces

Oct 06, 2021 News

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Kaieteur News – In his first visit back to Region Six since assuming office in 2020, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo announced to sugar workers in Skeldon and Canje that 7000 workers who were severed under the previous administration will receive a cash endowment totalling $250,000 each. The allotment of funds which is expected to be done by the conclusion of January 2022 will cost the state $1.8 B in total and is in tune with a promise made in PPP/C’s manifesto at the last elections.

At Welfare Ground in East Canje Berbice on Monday, Jagdeo told the hundreds of sugar workers gathered that it was during his time in opposition when he visited the area following the closure of the Rose Hall Estate, that he engaged with many that were fired, and he saw the devastation in the lives of those persons.
“I came here in Canje,” Jagdeo said, “and I spoke with many people and the party tried to keep people going as opposition leader, many times I spoke here, many times people would come, their whole lives destroyed when they lost their jobs so suddenly and so I said we will assist. We are putting the resources in as we said but we have made it clear that those who were laid off, whether you were re-employed or not, I just said to the workers at Skeldon that each of the 7000 workers who were severed will get $250,000 each.”
As it relates to the sugar industry, he added that sugar took a beating during the floods, causing the industry to lose over $4B, particularly in Albion: “we have had a difficult time getting new people because the factories were run down, the cultivation were run down, it takes a number of years to get cane growing.”
Despite the hindrances, he explained, over 1000 persons were hired; as such, continued investment in sugar is assured with the prospects of gaining private partners that will work alongside the government “so that we can see a resumption of economic activities, not only sugar but using the industrial base in these areas to see if we can generate new industries to accommodate the people who were laid off.”
The Vice President disclosed that there are plans in place to move the packaging plant from Enmore to Albion and in the areas of Enmore, Foulis, Enterprise and Buxton, industrial facilities are expected to take shape. Civil work he said, will commence soon and that is expected to accommodate the workers who were laid off in the Demerara Estate, “so there are a lot of things that we are working on. It’s not easy, it costs a lot of money and particularly in this period, it is harder to get investors, people don’t want to work too much”, he said.
Employment and training
In terms of employment, the Vice President said there has been difficulty when it comes to generating employment in the outlying areas but taking into consideration that the Region’s 3 and 4 “is booming because of the oil and gas industry,” there have been discussions with prospective employers who have since expressed their need for “several hundred” persons to be employed.
“They need several hundreds of people employed but we are not getting the people to train, and they want people basically from Region 4, maybe closer, 3. Right now, there is an industrialisation process in the Demerara River because you have a lot of shore based facilities being built, an industrial area that require a lot of workers and we have already started working on the project”, he said.
Regarding the planned Wales gas-to-energy project, Jagdeo said that the area is being converted into an industrial area with plans to have the gas to shore pipelines in by 2024. He said when that is in place, some 200 megawatts of powered is expected to be generated, twice the amount currently being supplied by the Guyana Power & Light to the national grid. This Jagdeo said, “will be able to generate that at a fraction of a cost that we have to by importing diesel and bunker seed so we plan to cut in the electricity price by 50%, half of what it is today so that will be a big benefit.”
He added that with seventy million cubic feet of gas coming in, it would allow “a whole range of industries to develop here, so the jobs are going to flow in that region.” Jagdeo stressed that the government is looking at ways in which persons from Regions 5 and 6 can be gainfully employed out of the region and as such, the move to have the Training Centre at Port Mourant converted to an institute for oil and gas, will allow for persons to be trained in other skills that will ultimately be of an asset to the oil and gas sector. That institute will be headed by Professor Clement Sankat who served as Principal of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus from 2008-2016. The Campus received Institutional Accreditation for the first time in 2010 under his stewardship.
He told those gathered, “So how do we plan to do this? We have started identifying people already for training, we want to look at people between the ages of 18-45 in the first instance, we are going to convert the Port Mourant Training Facility to an institute for Oil & Gas, we plan to move some of the training facilities into the communities, probably in Skeldon and Rose Hall, to do training in things like welding and stuff. The wages that you earn there, could be enough for you to pay the rent for a week, maybe you can travel home sometimes, on the weekend and still earn more than you are earning in the other industries, in the agriculture sector. So, I am hoping that people in this region, young people don’t think like the traditional view, they have to look at new industries emerging where the jobs can go.” Jagdeo said that such is only the first phase since they have commenced mapping of the Berbice River, north of the Berbice Bridge “so we expect that the same thing happening in Demerara, Regions 3 and 4, will happen in 5 & 6 when we start building these facilities out there, thousands of jobs coming just out here.”
He said that if persons have already been trained and has garnered the skills, there is currently a need for 600-700 welders to work on the gas to shore pipelines expected to take shape in a few years.
“So we are going to set up the training programmes and I hope that people here are willing to do that, it wouldn’t take long, in 3-4 months, you can become a certified welder and there are lots of other areas, so that is the first thing we want to do”, the VP said. He also stated that there will be temporary facilities put in place next year for hiring persons “so that they could get a few days work a week, at least 1000 persons in this region alone.”
The Vice President pointed out that his government is looking keenly at developing aqua culture, with a keen eye on expanding the growth of swamp shrimp. This he added will also employ hundreds, if not thousands of persons.
He further stated, “150,000 kilograms, that’s over 300,000 lbs they are producing now. Our aim is to support them that will generate hundreds of jobs in Berbice…”
He mentioned that in his recent visit to Suriname with President Ali, they engaged in discussions about creating employment opportunities in the Corentyne River that will service the offshore industry, as is done in the Berbice River and the Demerara River.
“There are a lot of other areas, which we are looking to generate employment. We are talking to Suriname because they have discovered some gas on their side and oil too. So when I was in Suriname, I spoke to President Santokhi, I have met with them too to see if we can develop the Corentyne River to service the industry offshore, like we do here in Berbice River and Demerara River”, he stated.
The Vice President held meetings in Skeldon, No.66 Fisheries with Fisherfolk, Rose Hall and Canje on Monday and was accompanied by the Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha and the regional team of Region 6.

 

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