Barama will be restarting its Land of Canaan plywood plant next month and it is examining increased productivity.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud and senior officials of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) met yesterday with Barama’s management on the resumption of its operations yesterday.
Persaud later told Stabroek News that the plan is to restart next month and the goal is to have more productivity from the plant. Also discussed were re-employment of workers, and the review of the Barama agreement, including the reduction of the concession, an increase in acreage fee and more value-added products.
Just over six months ago, Barama announced the closure of the ply-sheet facility at Land of Canaan, after a boiler was damaged. Last month, a source at the company told this newspaper that a new boiler was bought and that it had already been shipped. Installation of this boiler was expected to be done last month.
An advertisement in the March 8 edition of the Kaieteur News called for “former and new employees to work at the Ply-Sheet Factory (Barama), Land of Canaan” to re-apply for work.
In October, Barama made some 274 workers redundant after one of the boilers was irreparably damaged. The company had said that it would have taken nearly a year or more for the boiler to be replaced.
President Bharrat Jagdeo had intervened following the laying off of the workers, offering them a stipend of $25,000 for three months if they chose to attend weekly computer classes.
