Some sugar workers at Blairmont estate are on strike protesting the treatment meted out to a young sugar worker by GuySuCo following an accident on the estate on Tuesday, according to the Alliance For Change.
Reports are that around 50 workers initially downed tools and have accused GuySuCo of failing to provide adequate medical treatment for Davekumar Jainauth, who fell while working in the fields at the Blairmont estate. However, many other workers have since joined the protest and are calling on the corporation to pay Jainauth’s medical bills after he was forced to seek private care.
The disgruntled workers, numbering around 300, raised the issue with the Alliance For Change (AFC) on Tuesday and the party has since criticized the corporation for mistreating its workers. Jainauth’s case is a clear example of a public health system failing the working people who most need it, the party said in a statement.
But GuySuCo’s Human Resource Director, Jairam Petam told Stabroek News yesterday that the claims of neglect are “erroneous”. He said the corporation’s Chief Medical Officer has investigated the matter and found that Jainauth was recovering after receiving sufficient medical care at the New Amsterdam hospital where he was treated.
Petam said that some workers are spreading false claims about the treatment Jainauth received, particularly as it relates to GuySuCo’s involvement in the case.
He noted that the worker suffered lower back injuries following a fall in the fields and was taken to the hospital where he was treated and sent home. “I spoke with his parents and they told me they were satisfied with the treatment he received, but I later found out that he was taken to a private hospital…Guy-SuCo has no obligation to pay those medical bills”, he added.
According to Petam, the workers on strike are demanding that GuySuCo pay the medical bills for the private hospital. He said the corporation has systems in place to deal with injuries on the job, explaining that if Jainauth required additional medical treatment the procedure stipulates that the corporation be informed. He continued that after the medical officer examines the patient for a second time it would then be determined if another visit at a public hospital was necessary.
“It is unfortunate that his colleagues collaborated with the family and made a decision to take him to a private hospital, but GuySuCo is not obligated to refund them”, Petam said. He added that the Estate Manager at Blairmont has already held discussions with the disgruntled workers.
Today, officials from the corporation are expected to meet with the workers again.
Based on the information relayed to the AFC, the corporation took Jainauth to New Amsterdam hospital which did an X-Ray and provided basic medical treatment for pain and he was sent home. Jainauth was still in excruciating pain and his family later took him to the Georgetown Public Hospital, but he was moved to a private institution as his relatives were not satisfied with the care there.
The AFC said the family is now saddled with a medical bill they cannot afford to pay due to their circumstances. “The AFC believes that although billions have been spent on physical infrastructure, the Health Care system still continues to grossly under-deliver for the Guyanese people”, the party said in its statement.
The party said that it will support Jainauth’s family, and while it stands in support of the sugar workers on strike the AFC noted that the support of sugar workers is critical to increasing production and returning the industry to viability.
“We in the AFC believes that it cost the country more when sugar workers down tools than it would cost to care for Mr. Jainauth and thus is economically foolish for the PPP government and GuySuCo to grandstand on the issue”, the party said.
