Despite its professed interest in value-added processing, Chinese timber company Baishanlin is not even using the facilities already available to it.
Its sawmilling plant at Coomacka, Region 10 which it had acquired from another Chinese company was lying idle on Thursday when Stabroek News visited the area. In the meanwhile, the controversial Chinese company continues to ship logs out of the country and containers were being packed not far from the defunct sawmill.
The few workers present were eager to share their complaints of inhumane working conditions endured. It was also observed, on the way to the sawmill, that there is a site set up where logs are placed, sorted, assembled and loaded into containers to be shipped out of the country.
The person who spoke to Stabroek News at the front hut of the premises, seemingly spoke little English but said that the manager was not present, despite the employees saying otherwise. The reporter was then escorted off the property.
The employees did not want to be named with the exception of David Collins, who is the professed union representative of the group. He said that he only returned to work yesterday after being fired for no apparent reason. He said he formerly earned $65,000 per month as a saw operator, but was reduced to a security guard when the sawmill closed 2 years ago. He added that his salary was also reduced to $50,000. Collins along with two other employees said that the total staff that actually work on the sawmill to keep up appearances was about 6 persons. It was reported by another “employee” is paid $500 a day to stay home, while her name remains on the official list of employees at Baishanlin’s Coomacka Sawmill along with 14 other persons.
The group of men present at the site complained of working without gloves,
respiratory masks, without safety boots or helmets. They also pointed to a lack of lavatory facilities and a lack of drinking water for the staff. The trio said they are suffering and want the relevant authorities to look into the matter. They noted that since jobs are scarce, they’re forced to accept the mistreatment.
The ‘stay at home’ employee, who is also a concession holder, said the union had called on the Ministry of Labour to investigate and remedy the situation; to no avail. The employee said that some persons pay income tax and deductions are made from the National Insurance Scheme, but not everyone.
The trio on site confirmed that none of them currently pay either of the two and one of them has worked there for the past two years.
Baishanlin had set up the sawmill under an undisclosed investment agreement with the Government Guyana in 2007 to process logs and create jobs for Guyanese but has been derelict to this commitment. The Chinese multi-national corporation first started scaling down staff at the facility around 2009/2010 and continued throughout the years. The processing facility had a workforce of around 80 when it opened, but this number dwindled to 15 as BaishanLin continued to scale back operations and send home its employees.
