Dear Editor,
I expected more organizations and individuals to castigate professionals and the Ministry of Agriculture who retrenched sugar workers. First of all let me say I condemned the retrenchment of these sugar workers as a former GAWU field officer and a cane-cutter when there was a solution to their calamity. The government can find adequate jobs and lands for them so they can take care of their families.
Finding jobs and ensuring the development of our retrenched sugar workers is not merely a task for the government to do; our professional planners in the industry must make recommendations about where jobs and lands are available. There is no magic formula or blueprint for achieving success in solving the numerous problems facing the sugar workers and their families; problems will inevitably confront them as a consequence of the bad decisions they made when they went about planning the retrenchment.
Given our resources base, we are in a position to reverse the struggle of thousands of those retrenched in the industry with the government and union’s genuine commitment to the cause.
The cause is worthwhile; it is nothing less than a struggle to liberate the workers from the shackles of poverty.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
