Determined to show their displeasure at the planned closing of the Wales Sugar Estate, workers and residents participated in another protest march in the community yesterday evening and solidarity strikes were held at the Berbice estates.
Bearing banners and chanting: “Don’t close Wales estate” the residents who turned out in their numbers, marched from Vriesland, two villages away to tassa drumming that two men played from the back of a pickup.
At intervals, Bob Marley’s music was blasting loudly and residents chimed in to the words: “Stand up, stand up, stand up for your right… Don’t give up the fight.”
As they continued the march, a worker or at times, a GAWU member, using a loud hailer,
shouted: “who must go?” With residents responding with the names of three top officials of GuySuCo.
There were also chants of: “we ain’t giving up Wales, we ain’t giving up a blade of sugar cane, not a hectare of land.”
The police were also present to ensure that the march was held peacefully and that traffic flowed freely from both sides.
Workers also used the loud hailer to urge the protestors to “keep in the corner.”
They turned back in front of the estate and returned to the starting point where they gathered again for brief remarks by some representatives.
Along the way, some housewives said they were marching because with their husbands out of jobs it would be difficult to put food on the table. They were also worried about getting money to send their children to school.
A cane-harvester for 22 years, Rahiem Seepersaud said he wants the decision of the closure to be reversed and for the government to give them a try for another five years.
“If we fail, well something else can be done…”
He said they were willing to work with the estate’s manager, Dev Kumar who is confident that he can “bring the estate back in two years.”
Seepersaud who has four children, ages, four to 16, said the situation was causing him to get frustrated.
“Every time yuh sleep and wake up back this thing keep banging in yuh head. It came as a shock.”
Deonarine Ganpat who has 22 years of service, said he joined the march to see if we can save the estate from closing.”
Eunice Clark, a fertiliser-hand, also sees the decision to close as “shocking to everybody. It came down just so sudden. They should have prepared us like two years before.”
Another colleague who was with him, said: “They are taking away bread already… Some workers already got retrenched.”
Those workers did not complete three crops and were not considered permanent, a union representative Ramnarace Bissessar, told Stabroek News.
He said that not only would the closure affect the workers but the entire community – the taxi drivers and vendors.
He said some workers would be redundant while others would receive severance benefits.
“I don’t know what criteria they would use to calculate the severance pay.”
Berbice
Meanwhile, Berbice sugar workers displayed full solidarity with their colleagues at the Wales Estate by exiting the four factories in the Ancient County, arming themselves with placards with slogans ‘No to privatization, poverty crime, destitution and more unemployment’, `Reverse decision to close Wales Estate, APNU and AFC are betraying sugar workers, and `GuySuCo COI opposed Estate closure’.
Over seven hundred workers drawn from GAWU and the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial employees [NAACIE] from the Rose Hall , Albion, Skeldon and Blairmont sugar estates took to the streets in their various communities , from as early as 0630hrs yesterday and remained for over three hours, whilst expressing concern over the Government’s decision to close the Wales Estate by the end of 2016 .
However, protestors at Albion and Skeldon factories , dispersed earlier, following a heavy downpour just after 0800hrs.
Meanwhile, Charles Cadogan, field secretary said, the estates are protesting the decision, which, in his opinion should be reversed, as it will have a ripple effect on families.
Further, the workers were not beneficiaries of a wage increase for 2015, neither were they given their Annual Production Incentive as customary.
“We are comrades, we are in solidarity. They have responsibilities and we are dissatisfied with the stance of the Government”, he declared while his co workers nodded in agreement.
Another worker Ayube, believes that the decision to close the estate was done hastily. This decision he believes will result in many social consequences, which will eventually destroy communities and families.
‘It will have a ripple effect on other communities . The Government must allow Wales Estate to be productive’, he asserted.
Meanwhile, GAWU Executive member Harvey Tambron, noted that the support of the factory workers across the Berbice region, follows the question, who’s next.
He lamented that fact that GuySuCo directors had the responsibility for the factories and fields but they failed in managing effectively , resulting in the workers paying the ultimate price.
Currently the Berbice estates are ‘out of crop’, however grinding is expected to commence on February 12 and 19 respectively.
GuySuCo’s plan for Wales is as follows:
No further land preparation and planting;
o As the estate’s cultivation is harvested, the land would be retired and held for other diversification ventures;
o The Wales factory would operate throughout 2016 milling both the estate’s and farmers’ canes. It will be closed at the end of the 2016 2nd crop.
o With effect from 2017, farmers’ canes will be milled at the Uitvlugt factory. During this year the routing of the farmers’ canes to Uitvlugt would be determined to ensure the least additional cost.
o Agricultural workers at Wales will be absorbed by Uitvlugt up to the extent of suitable vacancies on that location. Surplus labour would have to be made redundant.
