Dan Kissoon started working at the Demerara Company at Diamond as a barefooted 15-year-old boy who ran errands in the General Stores and worked his way up to producing some of the finest alcohols ever made in Guyana.
Now age 72, Dan recalls the ups and downs that he and his co-workers faced in the sugar industry. He told Stabroek News that they worked hand-in-hand to recognise and patch leaking barrels, among other duties before he was offered training and the opportunity to work at Diamond Liquors Limited then, following the merger with Demerara Distilleries Limited.
Dan’s first outing there was in the General Stores which was managed by an expatriate named Watson. He remembers running errands for Watson and his co-workers’ general willingness to accept expatriate rule. On Watson’s departure,