With the refusal of the 375 cane-cutters and cane transport operators of the Wales estate to take up positions at the Uitvlugt estate, the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has advertised for workers.
In an advertisement in yesterday’s edition of the Stabroek News, GuySuCo called on people living in the West Demerara area to take the opportunity to be part of the Uitvlugt Estate Improvement Programme (UEIP).
The corporation also stated in the advertisement that it was in the process of increasing production of sugar from 20,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes.
It said too that it has 406 vacancies in the agriculture department for 298 cane harvesters, 48 planters, 15 chemical weed control hands, 12 rangers and seven harvesting support hands, six field inspection/agronomy hands, six pest control hands, five shovel men, five fertilizer hands and four cane transport operators.
Those interested in becoming a part of the UEIP were asked to send applications to the Human Resources Department at the Uitvlugt estate.
This is the first time the corporation has published such an ad, which was apparently to show its seriousness about increasing production.
GuySuCo had said that it was offering the workers job there because it intends to keep the workers on the payroll.
And in a letter published in this newspaper subsequently, GuySuCo said that if the workers do not support the UEIP, it may be forced to close the estate.
The Wales workers have refused go to Uitvlugt, saying that it is their right to receive severance payments since the location exceeds the 10-mile radius. The distance from Wales to the location, including the cultivation is 32 miles.
The workers had told this newspaper that on December 16, they attended a meeting with senior officials from GuySuCo about their options for severance or to be transferred.
The officials told them to discuss it with their families and that they would attend another meeting in January.
According to them, they had already made their decisions to accept the severance and were disappointed when they were told at the other meeting that they did not have a choice as promised.
“Dem [GuySuCo officials] photocopy we ID card and tell we that we have to go to Uitvlugt to work,” a worker had said.
