In an effort to assist the Rose Hall Estate sugar workers who would have entered the new year without jobs, the owner of D. Arjune and Sons is offering them employment.
Deonarine Arjune, owner of the poultry business stated, that he is expected to employ over 25 of the estate workers. According to the businessman, he has so far employed ten workers over the past two weeks and is expected to employ an additional five workers next week. However, he stressed to Stabroek News yesterday afternoon that as business picks up, he will employ more workers.
Arjune explained that so far he has on board five foremen, one superintendent, two salesmen and two tractor operators. He said that the men will be given similar postings that they had at the estate.
According to Arjune, the men were placed to work on his farm, located at Lot 26 B Kilcoy Chesney, Corentyne.
Meanwhile, giving his take on the closure of the estate, the businessman explained that while it may be understandable that the estate would have had to close, the manner in which it was done was bad. “You have business people, you have chambers, they could have had a chambers meeting and seek employment for the workers before closing,” he said.
He added that businesspersons understand the effect the closure would have on their businesses and as a result major businesses in the region could have planned to employ the people had they been given the time. “They coulda meet and we coulda say I take 25, somebody else take another 25 workers,” he said. “You can’t just take bread out of people mouth like that. 400 workers from Rose Hall Estate without jobs, then you get 600 people (family) depending on that 400 workers, that’s 1,000 people left to punish,” he lamented.
Arjune also called on his fellow businesspersons to step in during this time and offer employment to the former sugar workers in order to assist them to provide for their families.
He further explained that he has been speaking with farmers and other businesspersons out of the region and they have told him that they are in need of workers. “We got to come together. People can’t deh without bread, everyone can do something,” the businessman said.
