Sugar workers of the East Demerara estate continue to express their concern and opposition over reports of the planned closure of the estate.
Earlier today, a large group of workers from the estate marched through the community of Enmore and along the Railway Embankment to the community of Enterprise, some four (4) miles away.
According to the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), the march was intended “to call attention to plight of the workers and to express the workers and residents strong opposition to the closure of East Demerara Estate. At this time, while the Government has not announced formally its position on closure, all indications are that the closure process has begun. For some weeks now, cane planting at the Estate has been stopped which portends that no plans are being made for crops beyond this year.”
The Estate currently employs just over 2,200 workers and is a a major source of employment for the communities along the East Coast.
The Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union is worried that the proposal for the closure may be going ahead without enough consultation.
“The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), believes, it is apt to recall that just recently the International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised the Administration that such assessment is an essential element in addressing the industry’s future. Seemingly, the advice is not being taken on board by the powers-that-be”, the Union said.
The Union is also worried that while the government and Guysuco have identified the implementation of non-sugar ventures such as orchard crops, legumes, rice, livestock, dairy cattle, and aquaculture, such a move could take a long time.
The union said its “examination of the documentation produced by the Corporation, in this regard, has revealed there are more questions than answers. Furthermore, given the industry’s failures in the past with such ventures, we feel, this is not a wise idea to be pursued at this time. Such ventures, if the Administration is desirous of going in this direction, could be pursued on any of the vast swathes of abandoned and unused cultivable lands in our country. There is no need to divert lands away from sugar cultivation.”
The East Demerara Estate occupies an important place in the sugar industry, according to GAWU, since the Estate possesses the larger of the industry’s two (2) sugar packaging plants. Additionally,the Estate’s mechanization programme is far advanced and many of its field operations can be done mechanically.
The Union says it stands in solidarity with the workers and residents and is also strongly against the closure and sell-out of any sugar estates.
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